We recently received from the School of Music a scrapbook of sorts kept by former Music Prof. Theron R. McClure, who started a series of free performances of chamber music in the Hopkins Hall Gallery he called “rug concerts.” The first concert was held in April 1974 – on the rug of the Gallery – and it featured lutes. No chairs were provided for concert-goers; they had to sit on the rug, which is another reason McClure came up with the name. When the weather warmed up, the concerts migrated outside to the Oval, and when the weather got cold again, the concerts returned to the indoor venue.
Dancers perform at the Rug Concert
McClure told The Lantern in 1977 that he started the concerts because “material for several thousand concerts is just sitting on the shelves in the music department. These concerts provide an opportunity for this music to be performed.”
McClure joined the Music faculty as a part-time instructor in 1947 and he retired about the same time the concerts ended in 1979. In addition to his long career at Ohio State, he is credited with helping found the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and he also served as a bassist in the Cleveland Orchestra. McClure died in November 2010 in Sarasota, Florida, at the age of 98. After his death, the School of Music received from his estate nine viols to enable students to be able to play a complete repertoire of music for early, period ensembles.
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