We invite you to register for the inaugural Third Sundays tour of the Grainger Home and Studio on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 2 pm EST. The Third Sundays program is an outreach initiative designed to welcome diverse groups through focused, thematic tours. Led by volunteers, we are pleased to announce that Curt Ebersole will be leading the first tour, offering a closer look at Grainger’s home and work from the conductor’s perspective. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged!
The presentation will take place at the Percy Grainger Home and Studio, a significant local landmark concerning the life and work of Australian-born Percy Grainger (1882-1961): a composer, pianist, arranger, music world celebrity of his time and larger-than-life figure with an unusually fascinating personality. For forty years, from 1921 until his death in 1961, Grainger occupied the house at 7 Cromwell Place, using it as his home base for his world tours, practice studio (there are two pianos and a harmonium inside), and laboratory for his avant-garde musical compositions and experimental music machines. After Percy Grainger’s death in 1961, his widow Ella continued to live in the house until her passing in 1979. This historic house, built in 1893, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April of 1993.
Curt, a longtime friend, Grainger Society member, and neighbor of the Grainger Home in White Plains, has served as the Conductor/Music Director (John P. Paynter Memorial Chair) of the Westchester Symphonic Winds since 2008, fostering its exponential growth over the past fifteen years, culminating in The American Prize for 2018-2019.
In November 2021, Curt celebrated the 100th anniversary of Percy Grainger's arrival in White Plains by programming an all-Grainger concert at Tarrytown Music Hall. Follow this link to watch the performance, which includes an introductory video and greeting by Grainger Society President, Dr. Paul Jackson, and remarks by Grainger Society board member and Grainger house site coordinator Susan Colson.
View Curt Ebersole’s full bio and learn more about the Westchester Symphonic Winds here.