Sunday, November 17, 1963
She’s THE Music Teacher To Children
By PAQUITA FINE
Mrs. Fred (Adeline) McCall,
who has been THE music teach
er to Chapel Hill school children
for almost 20 years, has two un
usual assistants. They are Bozo,
a puppet clown, and Tony, a
long-legged leprechaun.
Bozo “talks" to the children and
“listens” to the quality of their
singing. Since he is also a very
michievous clown, he sometimes
misbehaves by chewing gum or
making noise in tfife classrooms.
He recently lost his head—literal
ly—and is now undergoing an
operation to have it replaced.
Bozo is so closely associated
with Mrs. McCall that when art
ist Bill Kughler painted her
portrait, he included Bozo in the
tremendous painting which now
hangs in she auditorium of the
Institute of Government.
Tony, her second assistant, is
almost as well-known to Chapel
Hill students as Bozo. His long
legs are especially limber and
he’s adept at showing children
how to dance. His favorite is the
Children’s Symphony by Harl
McDonald in which he dances
the solo parts while the Children
watcST Tony is a wanderer. He
recently got lost on the campus
and was missing for two months.
Not a day passed that the child
ren didn’t ak Mrs. McCall if he’d
been found. “Tony finally turn
ed up on top of a filing cabinet
in the department of bio-phy
sics,” said Mrs. McCall. “The
secretaries and the UNC stu
dents had become so enamored
of him, they hated to let him
go.”
While Mrs. McCall’s two chief
assistants are adored by the
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children in Chapel Hill, it is
Mrs. McCall’s magic touch that
brings them to life and opens up
a world of enchantment in the
field of music.
A native of Denver, Colorado,
young Adeline Denham spent her
early years in California and
England. When she was a soph
omore in college, she came to
Chapel Hill to live with Prof.
Frederick Koch and her aunt,
Mrs. Jean Kocn. But long before
she came to Chapel Hill, she had
decided exactly what she wanted
to be. “When I was in the sec
ond grade, 1 took one look at
the music teacher who came in
to teach us and knew that I was
going to be a music teacner.
From then on, I was always
‘teaching music* to the younger
children at school and in our
neighborhood. Some of my
young piano students actually
paid me fifty cents a lesson."
After receiving her AB degree
from the University, with a ma
jor in English and a minor in
Romance Languages, she at
tended Peabody Conservatory in
Baltimore, the Ecole Normal in
Paris, and the Juilliard School in
Now York. She received her
masters in musicology at UNC.
She did her teaching-training
working with Harriet Seymour,
one of the founders of the musi
cal therapy movement in the
United States. “I lived in New
York then and I frequently went
with groups to Bellevue Hospital
to observe this work. Mrs. Sey
mour insisted that everyone in
the group should have certain
qualifications. They were selec
ted for the soothing quality of
their voices, skill in playing in
struments, their mannerisms,
and their approach to patients.
Mrs. Seymour was making tests
on the effects of chamber groups
on mental patients at that time.”
Later, working with a child
psychologist, Mrs. McCall insti
tuted music programs in nur
series and pre-schools in New
Haven and New York. At this
time, over the WJ2 Blue Net
work, she presented national pro
grams on music for young chil
dren.
For a number 4 of years, Mrs.
McCall had a private school in
Chapel Hill where she taught
piano and theory. Her pupils
came every Saturday for en
semble playing—using psalteries,
bells, harps, and percussion in
struments. She gave up private
lessees when shq tygtjt into pub
lic school work as a music teach
er.
“The first year I taught,” she
said, "there was only one ele
mentary school here and the chil
dren came to my music room
every day. Those were wonder
ful days. I worked directly with
the children and knew one by
name. Today this would be im
possible. There are six element
ary schools here and I work with
a hundred teachers and some
thing like 3,000 children. But, if
I had to choose between working
only with children or with teach
ers and children, it would be a
difficult choice for me to make.
, Much as I continue to love and
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Mrs. Adeline McCall And Bozo
enjoy working with children,
some of my deepest satisfaction
as musical supervisor for the
Chapel Hill schools has been in
watching the teachers do an ex
ceptionally fine job in the music
program. Many times I am call
ed to a classroom to start a
group with musical instruments,
part-singing, or creative danc
ing. This is really enjoyable and
what I really love to do since I
like best the opportunities for
helping teachers by working with
the children in their classrooms.”
Working with the teachers,
Mrs. McCall not only holds dem
nstrations in the classrooms, but
set up workshops and personal
conferences. For special pro
grams, she often rolls up her
sleeves and gets right in behind
the programs.
One thing often leads to an
other in the field of music. After
a puppet performance of “Die
Meistersinger” at Glenwood
School last year, Mrs. McCall
whs asfeqd tow this show happen
ed to be included in the music
curriculum. She answered that
this was a part of getting ready
for the N. C. Symphony Chil
dren's Concert. “The orchestra
played the prelude to Act 111 of
Wagner's opera. ‘Die Meister
singer,’ and this was the inspir
ation for a sixth grade to turn the
story into a puppet show. After
presenting it at a symphony
workshop for teachers from all
over the State, the children per
formed the show for every grade
at Glenwood.” <Mrs. McCall is
educational director of the N. C.
State Symphony.)
The author of a number of
books and magazine articles on
music, Mrs. McCall’s first book,
"Timothy's Tunes,” was written
for the use of young children as
an aid in learning to listen at
tentively, and to play tunes on
xylophones, psalteries, and the
piano. The book has become so
widely used it is now a children’s
classic. She is also one of the
authors of a school music series
entitled, "This Is Music.” These
are books for elementary grades
all over the nation. The series
has been State-adopted in various
parts of the country, and is on
the supplementary list for North
Carolina schools.
Mrs. McCall’s teaching of chil
dren is not confined to Chapel
Hill. She has taught and held
workshops in almost every state
in the country. Wherever she
goes there may be groups of
youngsters in her demonstrations.
She recalls as a high spot of her
career the National Music Edu
cators Conference in Atlantic City
where children from an elemen
tary school close to the board
walk danced the Bach G Minor
Fugue and Debussy’s “Snow Is
Dancing” for 600 spectators. “I
was caught in a blizzard on the
way up,” she said, “and worried
about having only a few hours
preparation for the program. But
children never let you down—
their dancing was superb."
Mrs. McCall is married to Dr.
Fred B. McCall, a professor of
law at the University. Dr. Mc-
Call is also a musician. For
many years he has played the
tympani in the University Sym
phony Orchestra. The McCalls
live in a large house on Rocky
Ridge Road which they share
with a grey Persian cat who likes
nothing better than curling up in
a armchair with Mrs. McCall's
two assistants, Bozo the clown
and Tony the leprechaun.
BRIDGE MEETING
The Daytime Bridge group of
the Newcomer’s Division of the
University Woman's Club will
meet Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the
home of Mrs. Charles Hooker.
Mrs. William Strickland will be
co-hostess.
THE CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY
I Club
■■■ NORT H CAROLINA NATIONAL. - -
Right in time for Christmas, lucky families all
over North Carolina are pocketing checks rang
ing in size from SSO to SSOO. -
A windfall? ...You bet it is I But it’s one these
people produced for themselves—simply by be
coming members of NCNB’s Christmas Club.
Regularly this past year they’ve been depositing
as little as $1 per week in a North Carolina Na-
Children’s Music
Group Will Meet
The annual meeting for all
members of Music for Children,
Inc., will be held Wednesday
evening in Mrs. Adeline Mc-
Call's music room on the first
floor of the West Franklin Ele
mentary School. The meeting
will begin at 8. and it is import
ant that all members aHend, if
possible, as this is the only
meeting of the year.
Officers and Directors of Mu
sic for Children, Inc. are Dr.
Warner Wells, president: Joel
Carter, treasurer: Mrs. Stuart
Chapin, vice-president; Mrs. Jo
seph Straley, secretary: and
Wayne Bowers Mrs. John All
cott, and Mrs Philio Schinhan.
The membership of Music for
Children will have an-opportuni
ty to see Mrs. McCall’s new mu
sic room, where she has her
headquarters as Music Super
visor.
An announcement about the
purpose of the meiting says.
“The meeting serves more as a
forum for idaes and suggestions
for more music for children.
There will he a review of the
protects now in progress and a
brief summary of business.”
STAFF WIVES. MEETING
The House Staff Wives will
meet Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Duke
Power Company in Durham.
Home Economist, Miss Dead
man. will demonstrate holiday
foods and decorations. Members
are reminded to bring their
donations for the Christmas
House.
Mrs. Marion Fitz-Simons Has Major
Role In Playmakers'’ O’Neill Drama
By JOHN WHITTY
Marion Fitz-Simons, popular
Chapel Hill actress who has
made many memorable appear
ances with the Carolina Play
makers. adds another feather to
her cap with her portrayal of
Mary Tyrone in the Playmakers
production of “Long Day’s
Journey into Nigh'.” The Eu
gene o,'Neill play will be pre
sented this w’eek in Chapel Hill,
opening Wednesday evening and
running through Sunday.
Mrs. Fitz-Simons has portray
ed many roles, both on-stage
and off. After an extended en
gagement as a teacher, and as
the mother of four .boys, two of
whom are now UNC students,
she is assuming a new role this
fall, that of a graduate student.
Between studying lines for
“Long Day’s , Journey” and
studying'for her master of arts
in teaching degree, the energetic
Mrs. Fitz-Simens enjoys a busy
existence which she seems to
thrive on. Coming out of an
eight o'clock class last week,
she beamed over having con
quered her lines at last and hav
ing just gotten a 96 on an Eng
lish quiz.
This whirlwind of activity,
however, which includes late
night rehearsals and early morn
ing classes, is relaxing compared
to the schedule she had last
summer. A regular performer in
“Unto These Hills” at Chero
kee, Mrs. Fitz-Simons continued
tional Christmas Club account And now, twelve
months later, here’s the payoff... a check large
enough to finance the family’s entire gift list...
with money to spare!
Why go on letting Christmas hills take the
edge off your Christmas fun? Join the 1964
Christmas Club at any NCNB office today.
1963 Christmas Club checks are in the mafl*
f\ IV. .
MARION FITZ-SIMONS
in her role of Mrs. Perkins at
tiie evening performance while
commuting to Western Carolina
College eighteen miles away
for summer school work. The
50 weekly
deposits of:
$1
$2
$5
$lO
contents of her make-up table
included textbooks among the
grease paint and powder, and
she used her dressing room for
a study hall between scenes.
The wife of Foster Fitz-Sinr
ons, a staff director of the
Carolina Playmakers, Mr s.
Fitz-Simons numbers Medea,
Lady Macbeth, Eliza Gant in
“Look Homeward Angel,” and
the Dowager Empress in “Ana
stasia" among her appearances
on the Playmakers stage. Last
season, as Mrs. St. Maugham
in “The Chalk Garden,” she
was directed by her husband.
For "Long Day’s Journey,” her
director is Thomas M. Patter
son, who also directed the Play
makers production of O’Neill’s
“Desire Under the Elms” sev
eral seasons ago. Mr. Patterson
has just returned from a year
of teaching at the University
of Seoul in Korea.
Tickets for “Long Day’s Jour
ney Into Night” are now on
' sale, and may be purchased at
the Playmakers Business Of
fice '214 Abernethy Hall) and at
Ledbetter-Pickard in down
town Chapel Hill. The curtain
time for this production will be
7:30 p.m. for the evening per
formances and 1:30 p.m. for the
Sunday matinee.
Help the underprivileged
through the Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Community Chest.
NCNB
NorthCanttnaNtfonalßaiLH
Member Federal Reserve System.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Give you a
check son
SSO "
SIOO
$250
SSOO
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