Shenandoah Valley Music Festival

The Shenandoah Valley Music Festival was founded in 1963 by conductor, Dr. Richard Lert, about the same time that Wayside Theatre was getting started.  The Festival has evolved into one of the oldest cultural events in the Shenandoah Valley.  It is not clear if this event was ever held in cooperation with the Shenandoah Arts Festival, but Wayside’s playbills contained advertisements for this series of concerts for a number of years.  One person called it “an ad for an ad exchange” (Lynch. Conversation. 5 Oct, 2017).

In discussing an early season of the theatre, Washington writer, Richard Coe, when giving titles for the upcoming Wayside season, mentions that, “three of the comedies [are] to be presented in repertoire during the Shenandoah Valley Arts Festival, Aug. 1 – 8” (Coe. 14 May, 1964).  To date, there are no references found of the Theatre observing and/or cooperating with the Music Festival, other than by printing its summer schedule in the playbill.

One ad in a 1965 playbill gives the dates for the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival as taking place August 14 – 22 of that year.  The Festival presented a five-day concert series at Orkney Springs, located near Woodstock, Virginia. Most of these Festival ads found in Wayside playbills give the dates of the performances along with titles of music to be performed.  The 1965 Shenandoah Valley Music Festival is given as follows:

Aug. 14, 8:30 p.m. - Symphony of the Valley, Dr. Richard Lert, conductor Massanutten
Military Academy, Woodstock
Aug. 15, 3:00 p.m. - Chamber music Concert, Orkney Springs Hotel
Aug. 18, Twilight program - Concert by John Jacob Niles, Orkney Springs Hotel
Aug. 20, 10:30 - Concert for Young People, Symphony of the Valley, Massanutten Military
Academy
Aug. 21, 8:30 p.m. - Symphony of the Valley, Richard Lert, conductor
Aug. 22, 3:00 p.m. - Chamber Music Concert, Orkney Springs Hotel

For the 1967 Festival, a similar schedule for the Fifth Annual Shenandoah Music Festival under Dr. Lert’s leadership lists the following:

Wed. Aug. 16, 7:00 p.m. - A Pops Concert given by the full Festival Orchestra held at the
Orkney Springs Hotel
Fri. Aug. 18, 3:00 p.m. - Young Peoples’ Concert - a full symphony orchestra program
designed to appear to young people. Students free; adults $5.00.  Performed at
Massanutten Military Academy
Sat. Aug. 19, 8:30 p.m. - Festival Finale - Dr. Lert conducting this final event at the
Massanutten Military Academy

And for the 1984 season the following events were to take place:

Sat. July 21 - Singing Boys of Pennsylvania
Tuesday, July 24 - a chamber music concert
Thursday, July 26 - Symphony Concert
Friday, July 27 - Pops Concert
Saturday July 28 -Symphony Concert
Saturday, September 1 - Madisonians & Good Life Barbershop Quartet
Sunday, September 2 -The Festival Big Band

It appears that there was no exchange between the two organizations other than the printing of advertisements in their yearly programs.  This practice continued for a number of years.