Percy Grainger Home & Studio: Volunteer Training

White Plains--The Percy Grainger Society announces its 2023 Volunteer Orientation Workshop on Saturday, January 21, at 1 pm. Registration (and more information) is available on the Society's website: https://percygrainger.org/even...

Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961) was an internationally known composer, arranger, and pianist who made his home in White Plains, New York, from 1921 until his death in 1961. Grainger was heavily influenced by English folk music, which he arranged for keyboard instruments, chamber ensembles, and both chorus and solo voice. He is probably best remembered for his composition Country Gardens and for the orchestral work Molly on the Shore. Other well-known orchestral works include Shepherd's Hey and Mock Morris. In his chamber works, notably Hill Song No. 1 and Hill Song No. 2, he experimented with novel rhythmic and structural forms. He spent the last years of his life experimenting with “free music.”

“We are so pleased to announce this volunteer event and invite musicians and the community alike to share a snapshot of Grainger’s life and learn more about his home,” noted Susan Edwards Colson, board member of the Percy Grainger Society and longtime docent for the Percy Grainger Home and Studio. “Grainger was a fascinating character, a true inspiration to musicians and anyone involved in the creative arts, really.” Ms. Colson, who will be presenting the orientation explains that it will include an introduction to the Grainger Family, their life in the house, and include a tour of the house and collection.

The Percy Grainger Home and Studio is a significant local landmark associated with the life and work of Australian-born Percy Grainger (1882-1961): a composer, pianist, arranger, music world celebrity of his time and larger-than-life figure with an unusually fascinating personality. For forty years, from 1921 until his death in 1961, Grainger occupied the house at 7 Cromwell Place, using it as his home base for his world tours, practice studio (there are two pianos and a harmonium inside), and laboratory for his avant-garde musical compositions and experimental music machines. After Percy Grainger’s death in 1961, his widow Ella continued to live in the house until her passing in 1979.

This historic house, built in 1893, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in April of 1993, was originally built by a local banker, David Cromwell. Cromwell served as Westchester County Treasurer and Chief Officer of the then Village of White Plains. He was president of several local banks, most notably the Home Savings Bank. Cromwell built the two streets which connect Maple Avenue and East Post Road. Chester Avenue, parallel and to the east of Cromwell Place, built and deeded to White Plains in 1891, was named for his son John Chester Cromwell.

The Percy Grainger Society, owns, maintains, and interprets the Percy Grainger Home and Studio, which serves as a cultural resource for a diverse audience of national and international visitors.