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ONEONTA, N.Y. -- London-based radio documentary producer Jon
Tolansky is donating an extensive collection of his works to the SUNY
College at Oneonta for use in the College's new Documentary Studies minor in
the Department of
Communication Arts. The archive includes more than one hundred compact
disks featuring profiles and interviews of renowned classical music
performers such as Maria Callas, Jose Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, Leonard
Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Arturo Toscanini, Renee Fleming, Ida Haendel,
and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Assistant Professor of Communication Arts
Gayane Torosyan, who once worked as a producer and host on public radio,
coordinated the contribution of the collection to the College. Dr. Torosyan
learned of Tolansky's work during his taping of an interview with local jazz
legend Al Gallodoro. With the support of a Faculty Research Grant from the
College, Dr. Torosyan began collaborating with Tolansky on a project
exploring and explaining the documentary collection from a media
perspective.
Tolansky's collection will be digitized at the College, and with the
support of a grant from the SUNY-Oneonta Teaching and Learning Technology
Center, Dr. Torosyan will create a web site containing the documentaries as
well as a searchable content description and segments of her interviews with
the author about the process of their creation. She plans to use the
materials in her new Audio Documentary Production class and to make them
available for research and teaching.
Tolansky's collection contains some of the world's most outstanding
classical musicians speaking in detail about their lives, careers, and
repertoires. The conversations have been recorded for documentary profiles
and one-to-one interview features that have been produced for major radio
stations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia,
and New Zealand. One of the highlights of the collection is a two-part
documentary special on Shostakovich that includes the authentic voice of the
composer speaking about some of his works.
Tolansky described the contribution and archiving of his work as an
"enlightened cooperation" between the College and the radio networks. He
added, "These programs and their wealth of insights from renowned performing
artists are now being preserved for proactive study in secure and controlled
conditions on the SUNY-Oneonta campus premises."
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