Norfolk Test Screening of "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America" June 19 a Success

[The Music Room in the Battell-Stoeckel Mansion at the Norfolk Festival has been 

restored to its early twentieth-century state since we filmed there in June 2012.

Here, in June 1910, Maud Powell and Carl and Ellen Stoeckel asked Coleridge-

Taylor if he might be interested in composing a violin concerto. Photo:

Kaufmann]

Charles Kaufmann of The Longfellow Chorus of Portland, Maine writes:

The test screening of "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America" on

June 19 was the first event of the 2013 season of the Norfolk Chamber Music 

Festival, Norfolk, Connecticut. It was attended by a sizable, attentive and 

responsive audience -- a savvy group comprised of people who would feel at 

home attending a film or concert at Lincoln Center or the Met.

Screening a two hour film tests whether or not the filmmaker has put together an 

engaging series of scenes. From my observation point at the back of the room, 

the viewers' attention never lagged. The humorous scene, in which forest ranger 

Jody Bronson takes me on a wild ride through Norfolk's Great Mountain Forest in 

search of mountain laurel accompanied by Angela Brown's version of the soprano 

aria "Spring Had Come," from "Hiawatha's Departure," was met with hearty 

laughter. Jody, who was there, commented: "You did a fabulous job with the 

documentary, it was a tremendous amount of work."

After the applause when the credits had rolled -- and the unusual final outtake -- 

I answered several questions from the audience. Judging from these, the film 

made people want to find out more about Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.