Then & Now: Tuesday Musical

2003: “The arts are not a luxury,” says Marcianne Herr, the then-president of Tuesday Musical in Akron Life’s 2003 story. She explains youth arts education is a cornerstone of the mostly volunteer-run nonprofit that brings classical music to Akron. It was founded in 1887 as the Tuesday Musical Club by 13 women, and a key early volunteer was Gertrude Seiberling, who attracted acclaimed performers and hosted some concerts in the music room at her home, Stan Hywet. Since 1955, Tuesday Musical’s scholarship program has provided financial assistance to hundreds of university music students studying or living in Ohio, like Dina Kuznetsova, a 1996 scholarship recipient, who became recognized for her vocal abilities and performed at Carnegie Hall in 2003 after playing Tuesday Musical’s E.J. Thomas Hall series. Tuesday Musical “is grand enough to attract the most prominent artists in the world,” she says in the story, “and yet so supportive of aspiring singers.”

Today: Back for a 135th season, Tuesday Musical’s six-concert series at E.J. Thomas Hall includes Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir Nov. 27 and an evening with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman April 27. Community education and outreach are still going strong with free tickets for all students, almost all guest artists performing at schools and the newer Decompression Chamber bringing free concerts to stressful environments like hospitals and factories. Plus, the robust Ohio music scholarship program continues, awarding nearly $37,000 among 24 students this year. tuesdaymusical.org