Major: This is September 12th, 2006. I’m Jean Major; I’m talking with Ann Robin. Ann, tell me how your involvement with the symphony began and when it began.
Robin: Well, it began in, in an unusual and unexpected way which, for me, turned out to be a boon because it got me connected with the symphony for, I guess about 11, 12, 13 years. My husband and I had retired in 1987, and in that year we moved to Nags Head, North Carolina, where we had a cottage, and we had expected to retire there permanently. After a couple of years, Rick’s health declined. He had bad heart problems, and so, about four years after we wound up in Nags Head, we decided to move to Virginia, and that would have been in 1991, and so we took a temporary apartment on the bay, and in the meantime we looked for a house, and we found this one. And when we got settled in this house, I thought, “Well, I love music, and I know there’s a wonderful symphony, and so I’m going to subscribe.” So I subscribed to the Sunday Masterworks Series at the Virginia Beach Pavilion. And I think that was the year that the Bolshoi Ballet was coming, and the symphony phone, phones I should say, were just jammed with calls, and I kept calling and calling and calling because I subscribed, but came time--I think it was like, maybe, several days ahead of my first concert, and I hadn’t received my tickets.
Major: Mmmm
Robin: So I called the symphony office, and I asked to speak to the development director, and it happened to be Susan Cowan (ph), and so Susan Cowan (ph) got on the phone, and I explained my predicament, and she said, “Don’t worry. I will leave tickets for you at the box office.” And then somehow we got talking about who I was and so on, and I said I was a new person here, had just moved, and I had had a career in fundraising and stuff like that, and she said, “Oh my goodness”, she said, “Pauline Harrison, the president of the league, can use your help.” And I said, “Well, at the moment my husband is not in the best of health, and I think that, you know, I would be interested, but I, I would have to defer it”. That might have been on a, a weekday, and the next Monday, I got a phone call from Pauline Harrison, president of the Virginia Symphony League, who happens to live just opposite my development where I live. She lives in Thorough good, and she called me, and she said, “I’ve heard from Susan Cowan (ph) that you have fundraising experience,” and I said, “Well, not really fundraising experience. My last years with GTE, I was in charge of the charitable foundation.” She said “Well, you have public relations experience; would you
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help us?” and I said, “Well, ok, I’ll try to help you with some publicity.” She said, “I’m just starting a new fashion show for the first time.” This was, this would have been like the spring of 1991, and the fashion show was going to take place in November. And so I got together with Pauline, and that was the start, and I got more and more involved and just continued and so actually, my work became almost full time with the symphony which, which I enjoyed [laughter].
Major: I’ve heard that from other people.
Robin: [laughter]
Major: And, and your specialty was fundraising?
Robin: Well, with the symphony it was, but I was at the opposite end of the spectrum, I mean…
Major: Mmmm
Robin: I had had so many, well obviously, for, let’s see, from ‘79 to ’87, I was in charge of the foundation.
Major: Umhum.
Robin: And, you know, I knew, I had, had so many requests, I, I knew what was needed in asking for funds, and so that really I guess equipped me very well for working with the symphony.
Major: Sure. Sure. Sure.
Robin: And besides which, when I was working all those years, I was technically a career woman because I never had my own children.
Major: Um hum
Robin: And so I just worked, worked, worked. And I had always had in the back of my mind that when I retired, I wanted to do something voluntary, and little did I know that it would fall into my lap. Which it did.
Major: mmmm
Robin: So, they were, they were good years.
Major: And I gather that you ran the fashion show for as long as it went on?
Robin: Well, actually, I helped Pauline Harrison run it. I did publicity and did whatever else; I even helped on the day of the fashion show with lining up the
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models and things like that. So Pauline ran that show beautifully for two years, 1991 and 1992, and then for whatever reason, I took over. I don’t know why, or, but-- then I became the chairman of the fashion show from ’93 on through the last year it was held, and I lost sight—well, my records, of course, have been turned over, so I’ve lost sight of the exact year in which it was discontinued, and that was very sad. The reason it was discontinued is, we always had six or seven local boutiques or stores in it and they got, they, it petered out. I mean, the stores didn’t want to bear the expense of the, of the professional models and things like that, and so eventually, as all things do, even, even the auctions that we had, eventually, you know, it, you run out of gas and so…
Major: um hum
Robin: So, yeah, Pauline had the first two years, and I had the balance of the years.
Major: In the time when you were very active with the league, what things do you regard as the high points?
Robin: Well, I was thinking about that as I ran over your questions, and I would have to say that the high point of it, for me, was my two-year presidency because, in that two year presidency, an unusual request was made of the league, which had never been made before, and that was that… I forget exactly. I think it was the first year of my presidency, which would have been 1997. And then an unusual thing happened, that I got a call saying that Dan Hart, who was then the executive director and Win Short who was chairman of the board and JoAnn Falletta would like to come and address our board meeting. And so I said “Fine,” and they didn’t say what it concerned. So they arrived, and we were astounded because, for the first time in all those years, we were asked to go beyond our normal fundraising activities and take a very active part as contributors and fundraisers to help with what was then the New Dimensions Campaign. And so, we were, we kind of gulped, and we very politely said that we would consider it, and we did. As president, I formed a committee, and we hashed it out and hashed it out and said—well, the point was what they were saying to us, “What we’re asking you to do is to take this on beyond what you’re already doing.” And at that time we were doing three major things, the fashion show, a yearly auction, and the car raffle, so you know, we gulped again. But, we finally reached the conclusion that we would do this. And it was, it was, Helen’s, Helen Koltun, who really summed it up. I forget her exact words but I used it, we used it, in, in solicitation letters, and she said, “We need to do this. It’s the survival, to help the symphony survive.” It was, “We, we have to do this!” And so we did, and much to my surprise, we worked on it a good many years. I guess it was a five year program, and the first year we really had to work hard. We formed a committee, and each of us took a group of names, and so we organized it, and the end result and the highlight, I think, not so much for me, but for [08:51] the league, what it represented for me was teamwork, in terms of the
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league. Everyone participated. It was, it was a really, you know everyone was in it. And we raised over 150,000 dollars. Helen, Helen Sonenshine and-- it went to fund the oboe chair, and you probably still see that, so that was nice, and during the planning years, I mean there were many meetings. We had a small committee, probably six or seven people steering it, and that committee always met with Win Short and Dan Hart, and so of, part of the highlight was meeting with, with these symphony officials because what it did was, in those years, it brought us closer to the symphony staff and the symphony board, which I think was very nice. So, so much for that.
Major: That’s interesting, so that, that was an unusual opportunity for the league to interact with what I now know is referred to as the big board.
Robin: That’s right. That’s right. Absolutely.
Major: That’s interesting.
Robin: And, also during our presidency, and, actually before and after my presidency, there was a great deal of interfacing by Pauline and then her successors, with the executive director. Mostly, I think, during those early years, for me, it was Dan Hart, and the relationship was very close. And then of course, during my presidency, as is always the case, as president I was an ex officio member of the VSO board and actually even as president-elect, I sat in on, I think, the last six months before I became president. So--.
Major: How important is the executive director to the league’s functioning?
Robin: Extremely important. I would say during, during my tenure, both as president and fundraiser, and actually in the later years, I was also recording secretary, but the very early years, there was a close relationship, particularly when we got to the New Dimensions Campaign, but pretty much it was hands off. We always made a point of inviting the executive director to attend all of our board meetings, and he did a lot of them and then at our quarterly luncheons we always made sure that Win Short or whoever was board chair of VSO was there. So we always worked hard to keep in contact, but pretty much I would say they just left us alone. They were happy with what we were doing, I guess, and so they really didn’t pay too much atten-- it’s not that they didn’t pay too much attention. They were very glad to have the funds and stuff, but we mostly operated quite independently.
Major: Did, in those times, did you ever work with the youth orchestra or the community music school, or did those not fall within your time period?
Robin: I don’t ever recall any direct association. We’d, we always had a strong education committee.
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Major: Umhmm
Robin: Even in my early years with the board, one of the things I was asked to do was to help with the youth concerts, so it wasn’t necessarily a connection with the youth orchestras, but it was, you know, the fact that we were, we were concentrating on volunteering with the important school concerts. I was always impressed by that.
Major: Umhmm
Robin: And in my early years, when I was doing publicity, I would volunteer for that as well.
Major: The, during your time it was called the Symphony League and before that the auxiliary—(interviewee interrupts)
Robin: Right.
Major: The Women’s Committee and so on. That organization through its various names, how, how do you think that it contributed to the viability of the symphony?
Robin: I think it made a tremendous contribution. And I’m talking back, talking about going back, even to the early years, I was always, I always marveled at the fact, and I still do, at the fact that the league is seven years younger than the orchestra. So my math is bad, but that would be like, you know, close to 80 years. It’s, is it 79 years or 80 years?
Major: Yeah.
Robin: The orchestra was founded in 1920 and the league, well it wasn’t called the league, but what became the league.
Major: The women’s committee of __________
Robin: The Women’s Committee, whatever it was, yeah, was formed in 1927, and so I guess that would be 79 years.
Major: In my notes it says Women’s Committee was 1926 to ‘34.
Robin: Umhmm.
Major: So.
Robin: And I remember on the 75th anniversary of the league that was the theme of the fashion show, and we had a special dessert, you know, with 75, and we commemorated that.
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Major: Is, tell me about all of the roles that the, the league plays, has played, during your time period. I know fundraising, and I know support of the educational.
Robin: Yeah, well, we always held board meetings; we, one of the nice activities, I mean we had probably nine or ten committees, ranging from fundraising, finance, relations with the orchestra members, always it was a tradition to have a wonderful, elegant musicians’ party.
Major: Umhum.
Robin: And, oh another, another nice thing that occurred mostly during my tenure as, as president and then even after I left the presidency, I was kind of the coordinator of temporary housing for musicians who were transferring, coming from, other, other areas, and you know and then, I, this was when my husband was still alive, he and I developed a wonderful relationship with Eva Cappelletti, who became one of the violinists, and at one point she was the assistant concertmaster. And we still, I still kind, keep in touch with her, but that was wonderful. We always managed to, we always had a spare, a guest room, and we housed many musicians over, you know two, three, four years and, and other members of the league did that. So to your question, what the league did, the league simply operated under all of the various committees. I mean even, well down to preview refreshments, by-laws committee; we were busy bees.
Major: Umhmm
Robin: And we held, always we held monthly board meetings, and-- but in recent years because I think it started with Terri Kirchner who, of course, always was busy with, in her profession. Oh now I think it started with Helen Sonenshine; both Helen and Terri Kirchner are very busy women.
Major: Ummm
Robin: And so they designed a program where we had board meetings every other month. So that’s what is…but have I answered your question about what, what the league did?
Major: Yes. How effective do you think the league was, with fund-, has been with fundraising?
Robin: Extremely effective, I believe. Particularly in the years when we had the three individual fundraisers going. That was, that was not easy, but we did it.
Major: Ummm
Robin: Yeah.
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Major: And how effective in promoting the symphony in a, in a more general way?
Robin: Well, for our monthly previews, every time there was a Masterworks, which was at least once a month during the season, we-- it was, it was a tradition from the very start, and I love this. Even when I was a new member, I thought it was a wonderful way to, since I was new in the area, this is how I got, got to have so many wonderful friends. And every time there was a Masterworks and this was once a month, there would be this-- well, I think it, well there was the board meeting, and then-- I guess first we would have the previews, and then following the preview we have a board meeting, but we would have the preview, and then we’d have a committee, a refreshments committee, and there would be these elegant little, dainty sandwiches, and we never had to work hard in recruiting women at that time because [clears throat] even though it wasn’t too, too far back, it was still a time when most women were at home and, and that’s the difference now. At that time we never had to, kind of, scrape the bottom of the barrel for somebody to have the refreshments committee, or even to provide refreshments. It was always there, and, and they were always willing, and they came with baskets and things like that, and that has changed, and it, it just is, you know, part of our current way of life now that most women work, and a lot of those women, too, are, most of them are no longer with the league. I mean, you know, we all are aging [laughs] including myself, [laughs].
[laughs].
Major: The, at the beginning, the women’s committee and maybe its successor organization, ran the subscription campaign, and we heard, we’d, I had a visit with another person last week who talked about a, a dining room table just filled with subscription information and so on. And I know that the balance has changed so that now the league isn’t the primary organization,
Robin: Yeah.
Major: but does the league do anything now with the subscription campaign?
Robin: Not that I’m aware. Even from the early, my early days with the league, no. But, I remember hearing about that principally from the marvelous Winnie Baldwin. I mean, I, I think it was Winnie who was the, the head of that subscription campaign, and then in addition-- and this still was the case when I joined the league in the early days, I thought that this, this was so nice. Winnie, I guess, in addition to the subscription campaign had instituted the procedure where, I guess at the start of the season I think she called it carnation day or something like that, and all the league members would be asked to attend the concert, and then they would be asked to stand, and they would be pointed out because all the league members were wearing white carnations, so--.
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Major: Interesting. I had not heard that before.
Robin: Yeah, that was, that was Winnie’s project.
Major: Well.
Robin: And I thought that was so nice.
Major: Yes.
Robin: Winnie loomed large always. I mean she…my goodness, what she did with the raffle, I mean, I know that the car raffle, which has always provided the bulk of the, the league’s funds was started in 1988, and for one year I believe Margaret Clay was the chair of that raffle, but then Winnie took over from 1988 [clears throat] until, I then-- it was transferred to me when I became president, so from ‘89 through, I guess, ‘97 or even ‘98, Winnie ran that raffle, and--.
Major: mmmm
Robin: She was like a general at the helm [laughs].
Major: [laughs].
Robin: And also, we worked so hard on that. Her, her method for gaining subscriptions to the raffle was to organize women, and this, this was so nice, it was almost, it almost became a social activity, that during the term of the raffle which usually began in September and then lasted through, I don’t know, November or December, whenever it was, every week and sometimes two and three times a week, little groups would be formed. They would come to my house, and I would go to other houses, and we would be hand writing the raffle brochures, and Winnie, Winnie would be designating-- she would get the city directory, and she would designate certain zip codes that we would follow, and [laughs] I have to laugh because whatever zip code you lived in counted with, with, you know, [laughs] you had to live in the right zip code to get a, a raffle brochure, in other words—(interviewer interrupts).
Major: Yes.
Robin: [laughs] It was probably the more affluent communities.
Major: Yes.
Robin: So we always joked about that, but, oh, for years, we wore our hands out, addressing these brochures.
Major: Um hmm
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Robin: And don’t ask me why, I guess it was, no one was computer oriented at the time, so that was another interesting thing. All we did, all we did was by hand, and now of course it’s all mechanized.
Major: That’s right.
Robin: Yeah.
Major: Although, in the development business, a premium is still placed on hand addressing--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: I’m sure.
Major: --those--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: Yes.
Major: --solicitations.
Robin: Yes, absolutely.
Major: So.
Robin: But that was fun because [clears throat] it wasn’t hard work, and it was a wonderful social occasion almost, you know. We were, got to know, made friends that way, got to know—(interviewer interrupts).
Major: Sure.
Robin: --the league members and Olga Bensel was wonderful. She would come always with, with flowers. Olga was always a gardener, and she would come with gardenias and all kinds of things, you know, always bring the hostess flowers.
Major: Interesting.
Robin: Yeah.
Major: How strong has the symphony been in the last ten years?
Robin: The symphony itself in terms of its financial stability?
Major: Um hm
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Robin: Well, I mean, I think it’s been a little rocky, and I think that in recent years I’m, I’m happy to say that I, I think they’re managing to, they’re managing to really stay or to become more financially stable, and I see that particularly with the onset of Carla Johnson. Now this is not to indicate that, that previous, that previous, they’re weren’t successes, that previous people in those positions didn’t do a good job, but I think the fact that Carla came from the St. Louis Symphony and that, I think, it’s a very successful one, and [clears throat] she had years and years of it. I think that the symphony was great under the direction of Dan Hart and other successors, and then John Morison, but I see a different approach with Carla Johnson, and I’m encouraged by it. I mean, she’s coming with trying to institute new ideas, new directions, new community outreach and I think that that’s really going to help. Yeah.
Major: I think so. Really, things feel very vital.
Robin: hmm, yes. I think also [clears throat] the, the new program she has instituted like, ah, I don’t know what it’s called because I’m not part of it anymore. Is the, oh it’s, you probably know the name, it’s, if you contribute a certain amount, the group then…
Major: Treble Society?
Robin: The Treble Society, yes.
Major: Yeah.
Robin: I think that’s, that alone is, is an indication of new things that are happening and, and the course that is going to get us to where we should be.
Major: mmm
Robin: Yeah.
Major: In all the time that you have been involved with the symphony, has there been more than one conductor, or has JoAnn been the conductor all the--?
Robin: It has been JoAnn.
Major: mmmm
Robin: Yeah, so I really don’t know anything about the past history of conductors except that I’m on the fringes of it, because one of my good friends is Fran Pedersen, and I guess I mentioned to you in our phone conversation or I, I suggested that you might want to interview Fran at some point because not only was she a long time member of the orchestra, as a professional musician, but her husband was a volunteer, and this was during Russell Stanger’s time, by the
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way. If he was, Pete Pedersen was, [clears throat] the personnel manager, the, he was, he was everything there. Peter occupied many positions. He was the payroll master and worked very closely with Russell, so I think Fran could really add a lot to--.
Major: She, she’s definitely on our list.
Robin: Oh good, good.
Major: I’m very eager to talk with her.
Robin: Yeah.
Major: [clears throat] And it it’s only really belatedly that I discovered that she was an orchestra musician as well as--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: umhm
Major: --a very prominent in the league and so on.
Robin: Not only prominent in the league but prominent in the Virginia Beach school system, she was--(interviewer interrupted).
Major: Really?
Robin: Yeah, she was a guidance director, or, I, I don’t know if that was the title, but she was in charge of the guidance program at several of the schools, yeah.
Major: Umhmm
Robin: Yeah.
Major: Well, so, so she’s certainly on our list.
Robin: Yeah, she’s also a very good friend of Russell Stanger.
Major: I didn’t know that.
Robin: Yeah.
Major: Russell Stanger is definitely a friend of the University Library. He’s worked with us for a long time to develop a project called the Diehn Composers Room. Had to do with the, the collections and the legacy and so on of Ludwig Diehn, so.
Robin: Well both, both Pete and Fran were friends of Russell and his wife over the years, yeah.
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Major: In all the time that you have been involved with the symphony, has it been a full-time salaried orchestra?
Robin: Ah, yes.
Major: So, that period of when they were striving to become a salaried orchestra was, was really before your time?
Robin: Yes.
Major: So, I, so I will eliminate my questions about that.
Robin: Right, right. Fran, Fran will be a good spokesperson on that subject, I believe.
Major: In earlier times, and, you know not even way back, but times before the present time, there was a lot of discussion in the records about the symphony leadership working on ways--, to generate additional ways for musicians to work so they could earn more, so that the symphony could recruit more highly skilled musicians.
Robin: uummhmm [clears throat]
Major: In the time you were involved, did you ever notice that kind of activity or had it mainly died out by that time?
Robin: I can’t say that I was ever aware of anything like that, no, no.
Major: There were times when smaller offshoot performing groups were organized and various--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: Within the symphony?
Major: umhum
Robin: [clears throat] Well, that, that, I can speak about, to a limited extent, but yes. I know that particularly in the years when Rick and I hosted Eva Cappelletti before she found her permanent lodgings, she and others became active in attempting to help the symphony, and they formed little groups, and I forget what they were called but they, these little groups volunteered to [clears throat] do little musicales, for instance, at, to help with fundraising, and they, they did, they really organized several fundraising things on their own. For instance, they, they had a, [clears throat] I remember being at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center for Sunday brunch, and our musicians were there playing; you know that kind of thing?
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Major: Yes, yes.
Robin: So they really, the musicians really, I think, I always thought of them as [clears throat] being hard workers, not only, in you know, what they contributed in terms of their musical talent but--(interviewer interrupts).
Major: mmm
Robin: I think a lot of that had to do-- remember now that my tenure with the league has always been with JoAnn as the director, and JoAnn really, I, I say thank goodness that, that JoAnn came with us because she really raised the orchestra to new heights, and thank god for JoAnn because she’s so wonderful and giving in terms, even of what she has given to the league, encouragement, accessibility, her time, and she has been a wonderful inspiration, I think, not only to the league but to the orchestra, and we all know that the orchestra loves JoAnn, and JoAnn loves the orchestra. So I think we’ve been blessed by that.
Major: I think so, too. I definitely think that was a very fortunate--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: Absolutely, absolutely.
Major: hmmm
Robin: And, you know, all of us in the league, our hearts always went out and still go out to the musicians who perform at such high levels and for such low salaries. I mean it; I hate to say it but it breaks our hearts to think of that. And I was, we were so delighted to hear that they’ve signed a new contract, and they’re getting an increase, and I know that everyone who loves the symphony will do their utmost to see that the symphony, you know, becomes financially stable enough to maintain those salaries.
Major: Umhmm
Robin: I mean, one of the thrills of my tenure with, with the league, or the symphony was when they went to, to Carnegie.
Major: Yes.
Robin: And a lot of us in the symphony league participated in that.
Major: Umhmm
Robin: And then of course when they went to, back to the Kennedy Center.
Major: Um hmm
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Robin: Yeah.
Major: Yes, my husband and I went--(interviewee interrupts)
Robin: Yeah.
Major: --then--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: uh huh
Major: --we didn’t go to Carnegie, but we did to the Kennedy Center--(interviewee interrupts).
Robin: Yeah.
Major: --went on the bus.
Robin: As a matter of fact, I passed on all the things that I-- I always was a collector of files. I very seldom threw anything away, and so everything I saved has been turned over to the library. But among those things…are a couple of publicity tapes, and one of them was of, of our trip to New York City. And then there are a couple more because not only, in the very beginning I was really mostly the publicity person, and having worked in the public relations area of the corporation for all those years, I was very publicity-oriented, and so there were lots of times we arranged for publicity things and they were taped. So a couple of those two or three or four of those tapes, one of the fashion show, and then a couple of other things, one promoting the raffle are in, are in those documents.
Major: Are there other things about your time with the symphony that you imagined we would touch upon or that you would like to be sure to cover in the interview?
Robin: I think I’ve just about exhausted everything. I told you the highlight of the New Dimensions Campaign. For me, those years from 1991, I mean it was a wonderful happenstance that I kind of fell into it, you know? It was like given to me because I had always wanted to do volunteer work, and I had always been interested in music. Of course, having been born in New York City, having been raised there and having lived there, and then even when I moved to New Jersey, and I mean I was just a hop, skip and a jump into New York City and was always a subscriber to the Metropolitan and to the, the orchestra. Little did I know how, how wonderful it would be. One, one thing I’ve wanted to say, and I’ve said it to my friends recently now that I am moving to New Jersey: the only reason I’m moving to New Jersey is because never having had my own children, I have wonderful friends here, but I don’t have family. And I do have family, nieces and nephews and my brother and his ex-wife and so on in New Jersey, and it makes sense for me to move there because they worry about me and to keep them from worrying, I think, you know, that’s why I’m going. But [clears throat] I, I will
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not have in New Jersey what this area has, and you are blessed to have it, the number of arts opportunities and cultural opportunities, is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful as, as Lawrence Welk would say.
Major: It is. I have lived a number of other places, and one of the big attractions of this area for, for me, too.
Robin: Right. So, I would have to say that my experience with the league and the symphony in this area has been absolutely great, and I’m sad to leave. My husband, ours was a second marriage, and my husband had in his first marriage had, had lived here. Even though he was a native of New England, he had lived here for years. And when we married, he came to live up north, [clears throat] but when it came to, to retirement time he said he always said he was going to take me back to the land of pleasant living, and that’s exactly what happened.
Major: Umhmm
Robin: So I think I, I would put a cap on this interview with that comment.
Major: Thank you so much!
Robin: Most welcome.
END OF INTERVIEW
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