April 09, 2024
Linda Blaser
WGN-TV airs story on 1893 World’s Fair soundtrack played by music faculty
WGN-TV aired “The Long-Lost Soundtrack of Chicago” on the music of the 1893 World’s Fair featuring interviews with Lake Forest College music faculty.
WGN-TV Chicago interviewed and filmed music faculty in June 2023 for a Backstory with Larry Potash feature on the music CD they produced in 2017, called Souvenir Music From the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
“Our album continues to be played on Spotify and other streaming services. I can’t quite explain it, but I am pleased, of course,” Professor of Music Don Meyer said.
Meyer recorded the album in the 125th anniversary of the World’s Fair to commemorate the popular sheet music available as souvenirs to Fair-goers. The music was intended to be performed at home after the Fair as a reminder of one’s time walking the Midway in the White City.
For the interview, held in Calvin Durand Hall, pianist Chris White, baritone Brad Jungwirth, and violinist Kate Carter reprised their album recording of “The Streets of Cairo” which tells the story of a delicate young girl exposed to the moral dangers of the Fair’s Midway. White also played a solo piano excerpt in the style of Scott Joplin that the WGN crew recorded. After the performances, faculty members sat for individual interviews with Potash.
“It was surprising” to hear from Potash about the album so long after its release, “but the interest in this music has surprised us all along,” Meyer said.
When the album was first released in anticipated of the Fair’s 125th anniversary, “we had a flurry of interest in our program,” Meyer said. “We performed our set several times that year in venues all around Chicagoland. But interest in the music continued past that year, into 2019, and even past the pandemic. Our album continues to be played on Spotify and other streaming services. I can’t quite explain it, but I am pleased, of course.”
The Spotify recording of “The Streets of Cairo” has more than a quarter million listens. Find the Spotify album here.
According to the WGN-TV website, Backstory airs at 7 p.m. CT on Saturdays. Encores air at 11 p.m. on Sundays. Viewers can also watch Backstory with Larry Potash on Saturday night airings on the WGN+ TV streaming app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV; online at WGNTV.com/Live and the WGN News mobile app.