"The Music of William C. Wright" debuts in Iowa!
The unveiling of "The Music of William C. Wright" recording took place in Iowa -- both on the airwaves and in a formal presentation. This is fitting, since so much of William Wright's music is held at the Iowa City branch of the State Historical Society of Iowa in the Elizabeth Wright Heller Collection. Elizabeth was William Wright's daughter, and it was her granddaughter, Hope Rogers, who initially donated Elizabeth's photograph album, unpublished autobiography, and four volumes of music (three of which were collections of William's scores) to the Society. Hope's daughter, Mary Rogers, has recently assumed the mantle as the Wright-Heller family historian. Without the effort of the Rogers family over these many decades to preserve William's legacy, much of his music would surely not exist today.
On February 19, 2013, David Patterson was interviewed by Iowa Public Radio for a twenty-minute segment entitled, "The Talk of Iowa." The following day, he gave a music-and-lecture presentation to an audience at the State Historical Society of Iowa--Iowa City, and was especially gratified not only by the number of attendees but also in some cases by their ancestry. Pictured in this photograph (left to right) are: Richard Lloyd-Jones (from Frank Lloyd Wright's maternal side of the family), Richard Heller, Mary Rogers (great-great-granddaughter of William Wright), and David Patterson. The talk was recorded by the local Iowa government television channel for future broadcast (ostensibly on multiple occasions!).
Following the talk, Iowa Public Radio conducted another set of interviews with audience members, museum staff, Mary Rogers and David Patterson in order to produce a five-minute segment for broadcast at some point within the next two weeks. An auspicious beginning for Permelia Records' first release!
