| A Musical May Meeting [May
2004 Finger Lakes Finns] by Richard Koski |
 For the program of our May 16 Finger Lakes Finns
meeting, we are very pleased to be having George Kipper, who is one
of the leading authorities on early Finnish - American recorded music.
George is from the Washington, D.C. area, and since 1984, has worked
at the Library of Congress in the Recorded Sound Division, where he
is considered their in-house expert for early sound recordings from
the 1890s to the 1940s period. For the past seven years, he has been
a senior sound recordings cataloger, working with rare, non-commercial
recordings, including 16 inch radio transcription discs, acetate discs
of radio broadcasts, and personal recordings, often by famous musicians
and politicians. |
George has some roots going
back to our area. His father, Henry Kipper, lived with the Kusti
and Lydia Polho family from 1935-1939 and graduated in the Spencer
High School class of 1939. He will be returning to the 65th reunion
of his class this coming August. |
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George has been collecting early sound recordings for over 50 years, starting with his Finnish grandmother's 78 rpms which included Viola Turpeinen, Arthur Kylander, and Hiski Salomaa. His collection now includes 3,500 wax cylinders, 5,000 78rpms, 3,000 LPs, 600 CDs, 500 cassettes, 45 rpm discs, piano rolls, record catalogs, etc. His main interest is Finnish accordionists and comic recordings.
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In addition to his interest in recordings, George
is also an active musician, having played accordion at Finnish dances
since the late 50s. Even his accordions are historical, 1932 and 1935
Excelsiors, the same models used by Viola Turpeinen in her recordings.
