It’s 1953 and American music, depending on what you liked, was at a high point or a low point. Patti Page and Perry Como are at the top of the Hit Parade with “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” and “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes.” A young fellow named Tony Bennett was belting out “Rags to Riches” and for those who wanted something a little calmer there was Les Paul and Mary Ford on a mellow guitar with “Vaya Con Dios.”
It was still two years before a young singer named Elvis Presley would team up with a manager known as Colonel Parker and change the course of popular music forever with a song called “Heartbreak Hotel.” Rock and Roll was here to stay.
But for members of the Allentown Symphony Association, founded in 1951, it was the best year for their new organization.
The old Lyric theatre that looked like it was doomed to the wrecker’s ball was saved by the actions of the group and by the vigorous actions of Donald Voorhees. As a young man he had often conducted music for the Lyric’s orchestra. By the 1950s he was known nationally as conductor of the orchestra for the Bell Telephone Hour’s musical program, then broadcast on the radio…