Frank Thornton on irish music in Chicago

Title

Interview with Frank Thornton about Irish Musicians’ Association and Irish music in Chicago, Illinois, part 1

Contributor Names

Moloney, Mick, 1944- (Collector)

Thornton, Frank (Interviewee)

Created / Published

Chicago, Illinois, May 6, 1977

Notes

–  Frank Thornton, part 1

–  Part 1 of 2-part interview with Frank Thornton about Irish Musicians’ Association and Irish music in Chicago, founded 1957, about his youth in County Kerry, immigration, naturalization in US, music education need for financial support; topic sequence includes where he came from, family background, his family in Ireland, when he started to play himself, about the death of the musical tradition back home; fieldworker notes that Frank Thornton takes a few digressions; how Thornton set up the Irish Musicians Association in America in l957 in conjunction with the parent body in Ireland; how Thornton organized a concert tour of Ireland by Irish and Irish American performers from Chicago, including discussion of the tour program (copy enclosed in fieldworker’s final report); about the old days in Kerry where he was born; about Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Eireann (Musicians Association of Ireland) and its work; why Thornton came to America, his attitude to America, “a great country”; details of his immigration, where he came to and when (l929), where he worked, about getting citizenship papers, how he studied for and became a policeman, when he retired (l966); how Frank Thornton taught kids music, his own involvement in music over the years; about Francis O’Neill, the great Chicago music collector; about the musicians Thornton met when he came to Chicago, several are mentioned, all now dead; where those musicians would play; about clubs and associations; Thornton as co-founder of the Irish Musicians Association, its aims and philosophy, and now has 20 branches in the U.S. and Canada, and advertises on radio, there are 12 Irish radio programs in Chicago).; about the present-day musical situation among Irish Americans in Chicago; the sacrifices people make to pass on the traditional skills; Irish American musicians are seen as a great asset to the country, musical practice teaches good behavior to children; Thornton sees the biggest need among Chicago Irish Americans right now as financial assistance for schools of Irish traditional music, some kids cannot afford instruments, and there is a need for travelling concerts to be given across the country by top quality Irish performers to encourage and foster interest.

https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20584a/

https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20584a/