GILBERT MITCHELL JR. ENTERS NEW YORK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Gilbert Mitchell Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Mitchell, Main Street [Lykens], has been selected as a member of the New York City Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, one of the foremost men in music today. The orchestra is sponsored by Mayor LaGuardia, of New York City, and City Center of Music and Drama.
Gilbert studied music at the Ernest Williams School of Music in Brooklyn and also attended the Williams Summer School in Saugerties, New York, located in the Catskill Mountains, the past two summers.
While in New York City he had the honor of playing with Johnny Long and his band at the Hotel New Yorker.
For the past few weeks he is playing with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. The orchestra consists of 75 members. He was complemented as being the youngest person ever to play with the organization.
During the past week he has played at Madison Square Garden under the direction of Erno Rapee, for the Sonja Heinie Ice Show. He also sings in one of the largest church choirs in Brooklyn. The choir consists of 50 voices. It is under the direction of Mrs. Cecile Jacobson, a former vocal teacher at the Ernest Williams Summer School.
Gilbert is a graduate of the Lykens High School Class of 43 and his greatest ambition was symphony work. Today he is very happy to play under the direction of Stokowski.
His classmates and friends wish him great success in his musical career.
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Article from Lykens Standard, March 3, 1944, via Newspapers.com.
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