Founded in 1895, the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra is the fourth oldest American Symphonic Organization in
existence. The concerts in the 1895-1896 season were played at Pike Opera House
on fourth Street, in the following years they were played at Music Hall. The
first conductor of the symphony was Frank Van Der Stucken. A budget deficit forced the orchestra to fold in 1907. The
Music Hall was considered to large for an orchestra to be heard by all the
people in the hall holding 3,600 seats. In 1908 Mrs. Mary Emery donated
$500,000 for the construction of a new Ohio Mechanics Institute building
including a large assembly hall to be known as the Emery Auditorium and let it
be known that she would prefer it to be constructed so that it would be suitable
for "entertainments, symphony and other concerts". Enough money was
finally raised for the Symphony to start up again in the 1909-1910 season.
Leopold Stokowski was chosen as conductor and made his
conducting debut on November 26, 1909 at Music Hall. After a very acrimonious
relationship with the board of directors he left in 1912. Ernst Kunwald
succeeded Stokowski and in 1914 the orchestra moved its concerts to the
completed Emery Auditorium. In late 1917 Kunwald began to express strong
feelings for his native Germany and he was finally arrested, imprisoned for more
than a year before he and his wife were deported in 1918. He died in Vienna in
1939 at the beginning of the next world war. You will find some cards of the orchestra in the
Cincinnati Zoo section.
Back of card on
left
Cincinnati
Symphony Leopold
Stokowski
Ernst
Kunwald
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Soloist Myrtle Elvyn
Card reminding person of a
Advertising Kimball Pianos
rehearsal at Music Hall
Tenor Alois Burgstaller
Violinist Jan Kubelik recital at Music
Hall
Tenor Booth Lewis at Old Vienna
*
A Musical Concert
Loveland Opera House
The Loveland Opera House was also Loveland's City Hall. To see more of this building go to the 3rd page of the Political section.
A Lyceum is a building that is used for concerts and lectures. The Glendale Lyceum was opened February 22, 1892. It also is the towns library and museum. Membership is limited to the residents of Glendale and vicinity within a radius of three miles. The main hall is 40' x 50' with a large stage and dressing rooms.
Very rare postcard promoting the 1899 Saengerfest. (Gathering of the several German singing societies then in existence)
VARIOUS BANDS
Dick Alexander's
Band
Cherniavsky's Jazz
Band
Charley Lohmueller Band
2nd Independent
Regimental Band
Tusculum Juvenile
Orchestra
O.M.I. Cadet Band
Syrian Temple Band
Ohio National Guard Band
Cincinnati's Jr. O.U.A.M. Band
The Junior Order of United American Mechanics was founded in 1853 at Germantown, Pennsylvania. The organization is a non-sectarian non-profit fraternal benefit society for men (Councils), women (assemblies) and their families. In 1999 the two were combined to form one Council.
Strobridge Lithograph
for the O.U.A.M
U.S. Ladies Military Band St. Joseph's
Orphan Band
This is a double card of the Cincinnati Masonic Band.
Trinity Orchestra
Harrison Ohio Boy's Band
3/26/20
The three men in this real photo postcard are in some kind of band in Brecon, Ohio, their hats all say Brecon. Brecon is located around the 1300 block of Kemper Road in a area that is, today, located next to I275 on the North side. The population in 1893 was 72. It had its own P.O. and railroad station.
Madisonville Marching Band
Roy Meyers Entertainment 904 Woodlawn Avenue
This establishment was located near the foot of Price Hill. The building at that site today is an old apartment building.
COLLEGE OF MUSIC OF CINCINNATI
The first non-postcard image is an ad from 1895 for the College of Music of Cincinnati. Check out the names on the Board of Trusties.
This school was incorporated in 1878 and opened in Dexter Hall within the Music Hall complex on October 14, 1878. The image below shows the Dexter Hall auditorium that was located on the third floor directly over the two story vestibule. The hall could seat 1,200 people.
In 1884 the first of a series of buildings were built next to the Music Hall for use by the College of Music. In October of that year the Odeon was dedicated. This structure contained a 1500 seat auditorium, classrooms and practice rooms. This building made the College of Music one of the first music schools in the country to have its own concert hall. In 1889 property was bought next door and the Lyceum was constructed. This building had a smaller 400 seat auditorium with a organ (the Odeon also had a organ) and was to be used for lectures, chamber concerts and examinations. In the 1882-1883 College of Music of Cincinnati catalog contained this collage by the artist John Rettig showing exterior and interior views of the college. The 2nd image shows the entrance to the Odeon. The fire that destroyed the main section of the College in 1902 did not touch this part of the structure. It was retained and attached to the new Odeon that was built in 1911. The 3rd image is of the original Odeon auditorium and the 4th shows the Lyceum.
In 1902 J.E. Schmidlapp, treasurer of the college, offered to build a permanent dormitory for the students as a memorial to his wife. The Schmidlapp Dormitory was erected adjacent to the other two structures in 1902 on Elm Street next to the Memorial Hall. The 1st two images below are of the new dormitory (which was for women only) but students did not enter the dormitory directly from the door you see. This door opened to a long corridor that went almost the entire length of the block between Elm and Plum (later Central Parkway). The gated entrance you see in the 3rd image was inside this corridor, further down the corridor were 3 separate entrances to the college itself. In the first photograph you can see 3 bridges between the dormitory and Memorial Hall because the students would use the auditorium in the Hall whenever the Odeon was being used by another class. The buildings to the right of the Schmidlapp Dormitory would later become Alms Hall, another dormitory. At the rear of the Schmidlapp Dormitory was another bridge that attached to the main Odeon building and immediately upon entering the ladies would enter a combination practice room and dining hall seen in the 3rd photo.
Postcard
On September 5, 1902 tragedy struck the college when fire destroyed both the Odeon and the Lyceum. Fall classes opened using the dormitory building. Located at 1227 Elm Street (just south of Music Hall) the Schmidlapp Dormitory was used for years with the student enrollment steadily increasing. In 1911 the College of Music replaced the Odeon and the Lyceum with a single concert facility. Constructed of fireproof materials it had a 700 seat auditorium. In 1921 Mrs. Frederick H Alms purchased the property between Schmidlapp Dormitory and Music Hall for Alms Hall, a new dormitory. This new facility provided a connecting link between all the College of Music buildings and Music Hall. By 1926 The College finally retained control of all the properties. The last building erected by the college was the three-story office and studio building which was dedicated October 11, 1927. This new building faced onto Central Parkway (the other buildings faced Elm Street). You can see this building on the right below. The building you see on the left is the original Odeon building that was not consumed by the fire. The grand staircase seen in one of the cards below was in this building.
All the buildings except the Administration Building have since been razed for parking lots. Because of a need for more space and a better location the college merged with Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1955. In 1962 C.C.M. joined the University of Cincinnati as its 14th college.
Memorial Hall-College
Schmidlapp
Dormitory
Student dorm rooms
Odeon & Music
Hall Check
out odd looking figures on left in last card.
A. J.
Gantvoort
Main
Staircase
Albino Gorno's Studio
Orchestra Rehearsal
Manager
Albino Gorno was the dean of the college, and senior faculty member.
FOR MORE
OF THESE CARDS 
