Music Publishers of America (MPA) and the Vitak-Elsnic Company are offering a $100 reward for any one of the original folios associated with THE G & V CHAMPION ORCHESTRA FOLIO.
The folio was published sometime before 1925 by Georgi & Vitak, the predecessor company to Vitak-Elsnic Company. Instrumentation for the folio was extensive. As noted in the company’s advertising, “it is possible to play . . . with various instrumentations . . . [including] with String Instruments only. . .”
Steve Harris, MPA and Vitak-Elsnic President, discovered the reference to the lost folio while perusing the company’s archival copy of G & V’s Polish Dance Orchestra Collection No. 5. The advertisement appears on the back cover, which is not normally seen when reviewing the music inside a folio.
“I am quite familiar with the company’s inventory, and I have never seen this folio or any reference to it, either in our existing archival collection or listed in earlier Vitak-Elsnic catalogs,” Harris said. A Google search did not turn up any hits for the folio, either. “We do not want this important piece of America’s music history lost to the ages,” Harris said.
Vitak-Elsnic will donate any original copies of the Champion Orchestra Folio for any instrumentation to the Vitak-Elsnic Collection at Bowling Green State University’s Music Library. The BGSU collection is the world’s largest related to polka music. It contains thousands of original scores, as well as business and copyright documents, instruments, and polka memorabilia.
The reward offer expires on December 31, 2021.
If you believe you may have a copy of this folio, please contact Steve Harris at steve@musicpublishersofamerica.com
Leave a Comment