Paul Vinal Winter’s Portrait Bust of Serge Koussevitzky, ca. 1936

Paul Vinal Winter’s Portrait Bust
of Serge Koussevitzky, ca. 1936
This exhibit case is inspired by a gift to the BSO Archives in 2018 of Paul Vinal Winters’ portrait bust of Serge Koussevitzky and the documentation that accompanied the gift. The items in the case seek to tell the story of how Winters came to meet Serge Koussevitzky (BSO Music Director, 1924-1949) through his acquaintance with BSO orchestra librarian Leslie Rogers and a BSO performance of John Alden Carpenter’s Skyscrapers, A Ballet of American Life, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
Featured Photographs and Documents
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Portrait of Serge Koussevitzky, ca. 1940 |
Portrait Bust of Serge Koussevitzky |
Reproduction of Yearbook Entry for Paul Vinal Winters, 1929 (PDF) According to his daughter, Susan Winters Smith, Winters lived for a time in the same apartment building as BSO orchestra librarian Leslie Rogers, and was friendly with many BSO members. It was through this connection that he purportedly was hired to play the banjo part in at least one of the BSO’s 14 performances of Skyscrapers conducted by Koussevitzky between 1927 and 1939. When Koussevitzky learned that Winters was an artist as well as a musician, he asked the young man if he might like to sculpt him. Letter from Paul Winters to Olga Koussevitzky, July 31, 1951 (PDF) Reproduction courtesy Koussevitzky Collection, Library of Congress Music Division Arthur Fiedler Esplanade Concerts Program, 1934 (PDF) |
BSO Orchestral Score of John Alden Carpenter's Skyscrapers (PDF) |