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Feature of Note2026–27 Virtual SeriesStaging Percy Grainger
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The 2026–27 series of members' meetings, Staging Percy Grainger: Reimagining Life and Legacy, is a three-part series exploring how playwrights, composers, and performers have brought Grainger to the stage, illuminating the man behind the music through drama, opera, and intimate theatrical portraiture. Moderated by Dr. Sarah Kirby, each program reveals how archival traces —letters, images, and music — are transformed into performance, offering fresh perspectives on Grainger's complex identity as interpreted by artists today.
Mark your calendar for the three virtual events, exact time to be confirmed. *Please note: for those in Australia, each event will take place one day after each date listed below:
- October 22, 2026: Percy and Rose with Rob George
- February 25, 2027: Percy, the Opera with John Matthews and Anke Ryan
- May 20, 2027: Grainger at Home with Karen Van Spall and Lucy Esdaile
If you miss a meeting, a video recording is available in the members area of our website. If you are not yet a member, consider joining through this link to access member resources and support the PGS mission. |
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Member HappeningsRecapping the July 2026
Members' Meeting
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PGS President, Dr. Paul Jackson, led an engaging review of the past year’s programs, events, and initiatives at the 2026 Annual Members' Meeting on July 11th. Dr. Jackson began the first half of the meeting with the "Year in Review,' discussing four successful major projects from the past year:
1) Strategic planning 2026-2028 2) Exterior renovations and collection conservation 3) Spring Open house and Paper, Line, Color exhibition 4) University collaborations, including GLOSS Glide (with assistance of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and the Brigham Young University (BYU) Grainger Symposium
Dr. Jackson also announced the focus of our upcoming fundraising drive: the restoration of Percy's bedroom. The wallpaper is in poor condition and peeling paint/cracks in the ceiling. Help us bring the room back to Percy's time! Contributions to the 2026 GivingTuesday campaign will support this initiative!
As is customary during the annual meeting, the upcoming year’s new programmatic theme was announced: Staging Percy Grainger: Reimagining Life and Legacy. PGS is pleased to have three events scheduled focusing on the theme (see “Feature of Note” section above for more information), accessible to all via Zoom. Additionally, the upcoming issue of The Grainger Journal (Volume 22, Number 1) will recap the BYU Grainger Symposium. Past issues of the journal are available through this link to the PGS website.
We hope you will join us for the exciting 2026–27 programming! |
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Member HappeningsGrainger Journal
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The July 2026 issue of The Grainger Journal will be available soon.
Members will find society and museum news, as well as selected papers presented at the March 2026 symposium, Approaches to Performing Grainger, at Brigham Young University.
Additional resources and links to issues of The Grainger Journal are easily accessible through the links below:
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At the Home and StudioConstruction Update
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Much progress has been made on the exterior renovation of the Percy Grainger Home & Studio! New cedar shingles and copper roof flashing in the photo above are just some of the now visible improvements underway in the list of construction project components, which include:
- Restoration of gutters, outlets, and downspouts
- Repair and replacement of damaged woodwork and shingle siding
- Repointing of the foundation where needed
- Restoration of porch elements and improvements to site drainage
The photo below highlights a new copper gutter downspout to help resolve drainage issues. For further details and additional photos from the restoration, follow this link to the preservation project section of our website. |
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Save the DateOctober 4, 2026:
Sunday Tour with Jordan Waddell
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As a composer, Percy Grainger was an early advocate for the new and ever-expanding melodic percussion section of the early twentieth century. In more recent times, a trend has emerged: it is far more common for composers to write for expanded percussion sections in both wind band and orchestral literature. If one looks closely at the way Grainger wrote for various melodic percussion instruments, it becomes evident that he had more than a passing familiarity with the instruments for which he was writing. Percy learned how to play various melodic percussion instruments, and he taught his wife Ella how to play them as well. The two of them would perform with ensembles playing his music on occasion, showing their skills as percussionists to the public.
The event is part of the ongoing series, Sunday Tours of the Percy Grainger Home & Studio. It is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged.
Presenter: Jordan Waddell (he/him) is a music historian and percussionist based in Hartford, Connecticut. A former member of the two-time IPEC-winning University of Alabama Percussion Studio, he graduated with a B.M. in Percussion Performance in 2024. In 2026, he graduated from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford with a M.M. in Music History. His primary areas of research are ludo musicological semiotics and the life and works of Percy Aldridge Grainger. He is a volunteer at the Percy Grainger Home & Studio. |
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From Our Readers:A COINCIDENCE CONCERNING PERCY GRAINGER
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Peter Cox had written to the Percy Grainger Society to learn more about the composer. While listening to Classic FM, he received a reply from PGS at the same moment the station began playing Grainger's Country Gardens. Mr. Cox viewed this striking coincidence as a sign and was inspired to write a poem to capture the moment:
COINCIDENCE RE PERCY GRAINGER I heard the sound of mail, and was revived. A letter from NEW YORK had just arrived re Percy Grainger in reply to mine just when on radio, rather like some sign, I heard his name announced, then "Country Gardens" played, and ordinary life was put into the shade. For "Country Gardens", Grainger is best known. Coincidental, as I hope I've shown.
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Event KeyThe Percy Grainger Society is pleased to offer both live and virtual events. You can easily determine if the events listed in this newsletter are live or virtual by the color of the registration button: green for live events blue for virtual events
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The Percy Grainger Society
7 Cromwell Place | White Plains, New York 10601
Join/Renew
Donate
Volunteer
Our mission is to promote the work and legacy of Percy Grainger with a membership community that preserves his historic house, encourages appreciation performance of his music, and promotes a deeper understanding of the cultural, social, and economic context of his life and work.
info@percygrainger.org
(914) 281-1610
www.percygrainger.org
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