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Title
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Interview Clip: Anthology funding and recording process
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Description
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Recorded in Studio 2 (The Berg) in the Dance Building at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
[00:00:00] PATTERSON:
I went to her, Margaret, to ask whether her membership on the Dow Chemical Corporation might uncover some source of potential support, $10,000.
TOPPIN:
That man is smart. You're smart.
PATTERSON:
For the publication of my...
[00:00:27] TOPPIN:
So you had the idea of the publication, but, and then you saw the funding, or did you just have the idea? How far had you worked on the publication before you—
PATTERSON:
I had worked very assiduously.
TOPPIN:
So you had the songs already picked, and then you were looking for the help to get it published. Okay.
[00:00:49] PATTERSON:
And the March Brothers told me that they could not publish it. They would not undertake the publication of it without some funding, and they suggested the figure $10,000. And I said to Margaret Dow, “Is there any possibility of it?” She said, “No, the Dow Chemical Corporation would not fund that. But here.” She walked over to her desk, and this is in her home, and she pulled out her checkbook. And she said, “I will.”
TOPPIN:
Wow.
[00:01:34] PATTERSON:
And I said, “You know, that I can't be encouraged to say to you that we can pay this back in any kind of reasonable time.” She said, “Don't worry about that, Willis.”
TOPPIN:
Wow.
PATTERSON:
She said, “Judith had told me about your aim.”
[00:02:04] TOPPIN:
Your project, yeah. And to think that that's the anthology that has been going strong since 1977 and has been the standard on the market, um, and had you not had the fortitude to go and ask her—
PATTERSON:
And the connections.
TOPPIN:
And the connections, which being at the School of Music and being, that is brilliant.
[00:02:28] And then how did you come, did she also fund the recording or somebody else?
PATTERSON:
No, the School of Music.
TOPPIN:
They kicked in for the recording.
PATTERSON:
Kicked in for the recording.
TOPPIN:
Okay.
PATTERSON:
In fact, George Cavender was appointed, at that time he was Bill Rovelli's right-hand man. But he became the organizer—upon his retirement from working with Bill—he became the manager of recording, all recordings in the school of music, and he undertook that project.
[00:03:07] TOPPIN:
Wow, because you have, again, that too is iconic with George Shirley and you and—uh, is it Hilda Harris on it? No, it is Hilda Harris on it.
[00:03:17] So you brought in these stars as well as, very smartly, used graduate students who are in their own right now. Yuzi Brown, who was chair at Morehouse for 49 years, and Charsie Sawyer, who was at Calvin College. You had these wonderful singers as a part of the project. You really made it into an SMTD project by hiring the students to be a part of it.
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Identifier
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PattersonToppininterviewclip6
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Creator
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Louise Toppin; Willis Patterson
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Date
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07/25/24
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Subject
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scholarship; expanding the repertoire; BIPOC platforming
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Type
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moving image
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Format
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mp4
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Relation
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—
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Source
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, & Dance
