Skip to main content
Appalachian Today
News and events at Appalachian State University
  • For the media
  • COVID updates
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Webcams
  • Podcasts
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • Accolades
  • Alumni
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Athletics
  • Awards and Honors
  • Community Engagement
  • Diversity
  • Events
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Gifts and Grants
  • Global
  • Health and Wellness
  • Publications
  • Research
  • Safety
  • Scholarships
  • Students
  • Sustainability
☰ Menu
  • Events
  • Webcams
  • Podcasts
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • COVID updates
  • Contact

Alumnus Craig Phillips ’93 works to restore musical legacy of The Revelers

View larger image

Sheet music for “Singin’ in the Rain.” Photo courtesy of Craig Phillips

View larger image

Hayes School of Music alumnus Dr. Craig Phillips ’93, University of Oregon music professor and founding member of the vocal quartet New York Polyphony. Photo by Chris Owyoung

By Linda Coutant
Posted July 17, 2018 at 4:10 p.m.

Dr. Craig Phillips ’93, bass singer with the twice Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble New York Polyphony and University of Oregon music professor, is making national news for restoring the musical legacy of The Revelers, an early 20th-century vocal group.

“In 2015, I located the ‘lost songs’ of a singing group that was very popular on record and radio during the 1920s and '30s called The Revelers,” said Phillips, a graduate of Appalachian State University’s Hayes School of Music.

Stashed in the attic of a Redding, Connecticut, home, were nine wooden crates full of dusty, handwritten scores containing more than 500 of the group’s signature, unpublished arrangements, Phillips said. They belonged to a descendent of one of The Revelers’ members, who Phillips found through the comments section of a blog.

He calls his research The Revelers Project. “Since their discovery, I’ve worked to reconstruct/rebuild the arrangements so that the songs can be performed by modern musicians. Last week, in New York City, I staged an informal revival of select songs from The Revelers collection. It was a big success,” he said.

View larger image

The Revelers, circa 1929, with touring pianist Frank Banta Jr. From left, Lewis James, Elliott Shaw, Wilfred Glenn and James Melton. Photo courtesy of Craig Phillips

View larger image

Circa 1930, this image shows The Revelers performing live for NBC Radio. Craig Phillips ’93 describes this as his favorite photo of the vocal group, pointing out the single microphone used to record the singers, piano and orchestra. Photo courtesy of Craig Phillips

Music critic and blogger David Patrick Stearns agreed the National Opera Center performance July 11 was a success, writing “the neo-Revelers pulled it off.”

In describing Phillips’ research project, Stearns also wrote, “Attic music speaks quietly — and with wide-open possibilities. A secret garden, perhaps? ... For the past three years or so, he has researched how The Revelers tumbled from the ultimate mainstream fame to complete obscurity.”

News media coverage of Phillips’ research
  • Resurrecting The Revelers: A Eugene musician is bringing back long-forgotten music
    Eugene Weekly
  • UO prof preps for revival of The Revelers after discovery of rare music
    The Register-Guard
  • Oregon professor finds rare music; revives The Revelers
    The Seattle Times
  • Oregon professor finds rare music; revives The Revelers
    Associated Press

Phillips said the original group disbanded in 1940. After a reboot with new members in 1947, The Revelers toured until 1955 and then faded away.

“Because their recorded output predated the invention of magnetic tape by nearly two decades, their music was not properly anthologized and therefore consigned to obsolete, low-fidelity shellac 78s,” Phillips said.

The signature arrangements that propelled The Revelers to worldwide fame in the 1920s and ’30s were retired, never published and effectively lost, he said.

After the attic discovery, Phillips converted the autograph material into modern musical scores, which has required interpreting composer intent from original charts, reconstructing missing or fragmentary material, and verifying content against extant audio media.

Phillips, who majored in music performance, said he’s been thrilled to bring back to life the works of the most successful vocal ensemble from what’s known as the “electrical period,” he said.

“They were integral both to the mainstreaming of jazz and to the promotion of American songwriters Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter among others,” he said.

View larger image

Hayes School of Music alumnus Dr. Craig Phillips ’93, University of Oregon music professor and founding member of the vocal quartet New York Polyphony. Photo by Chris Owyoung

About Craig Phillips

Director of The Revelers Project, bass baritone Craig Phillips is a founding member of the twice Grammy-nominated male vocal quartet New York Polyphony. Founded in 2006, the ensemble tours extensively, participating in major concert series and festivals around the world. Outside of New York Polyphony, Phillips is an established opera and concert soloist. He has performed a wide range of repertoire with companies including Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera and Boston Lyric Opera. In 2017, Phillips joined the faculty of the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance as assistant professor of voice and vocal pedagogy.

News media coverage of Phillips’ research
  • Resurrecting The Revelers: A Eugene musician is bringing back long-forgotten music
    Eugene Weekly
  • UO prof preps for revival of The Revelers after discovery of rare music
    The Register-Guard
  • Oregon professor finds rare music; revives The Revelers
    The Seattle Times
  • Oregon professor finds rare music; revives The Revelers
    Associated Press
“Lucky Day!” (The Revelers, 1926)
“Lucky Day!” (The Revelers, 1926)

The Revelers’ “Lucky Day” is said to be one of the finest – and most cheerful – collaborations by songwriters Ray Henderson, Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown.

Listen now
A Grad’s Musical Journey — Trumpet to Opera to Acclaimed New York Polyphony
A Grad’s Musical Journey — Trumpet to Opera to Acclaimed New York Polyphony
Hayes School of Music
Oct. 1, 2013

Craig Phillips '93 is the bass singer with New York Polyphony, a men's early music quartet. (Polyphony, as described by one of the singers, literally means "many sounds," but it's essentially the interplay of individual lines that come together in perfect unity.) The quartet's new CD is "Times go by Turns," the group's follow-up album to one of The New Yorker's Top Ten Notable Classical Music Recordings of 2012.

Read the story
Where can an Appalachian degree take you?
Where can an Appalachian degree take you?

Anywhere you want to go! Appalachian State University generates passionate and engaged alumni, who become leaders in their communities and chosen professions. They exemplify how an Appalachian education can and does make the world a better place.

Learn more

About the Hayes School of Music

The Hayes School of Music prepares young musicians for professional lives as performers, composers, music educators, music therapists, conductors and music industry professionals, ensuring the next generation of musical leadership for the state, region and nation. Noted for quality instruction by national and internationally recognized faculty musicians, the school offers four undergraduate degree programs and three graduate-level programs. Learn more at https://music.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Alumni
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Community Engagement

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Alumni
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Community Engagement

Other Recent Posts

  • Troy Johnson named vice chancellor of enrollment management at App State
    Troy Johnson named vice chancellor of enrollment management at App State
  • From waste to wear: App State alumna develops sustainable pigments for fashion, printing industries
    From waste to wear: App State alumna develops sustainable pigments for fashion, printing industries
  • <span style="color: #bc8801;">Appalachian Outdoorosity:</span> Dressing for the Cold (Part 2)
    Appalachian Outdoorosity: Dressing for the Cold (Part 2)
  • Appalachian Journal marks 50 years of spotlighting Appalachia
    Appalachian Journal marks 50 years of spotlighting Appalachia
  • Honoring women’s leadership and history at App State
    Honoring women’s leadership and history at App State
  • Lumbee tribal flag now hangs in App State’s student union, honoring the Lumbee people and their history
    Lumbee tribal flag now hangs in App State’s student union, honoring the Lumbee people and their history
  • Since 1958, App State's Southern Appalachian plant collection has aided research, teaching and conservation
    Since 1958, App State's Southern Appalachian plant collection has aided research, teaching and conservation
  • <span style="color: #bc8801;">SoundAffect:</span> Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system
    SoundAffect: Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system
  • App State Office of Diversity brings monthly read-alouds to lab schools
    App State Office of Diversity brings monthly read-alouds to lab schools
  • 6 award-winning authors to visit App State for spring 2023 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
    6 award-winning authors to visit App State for spring 2023 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
  • Campus emergency siren test to be conducted <span style="white-space: nowrap;">March 1</span>
    Campus emergency siren test to be conducted March 1
  • App State’s Day of Service honors legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
    App State’s Day of Service honors legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • COVID updates
  • Contact

App State

Copyright 2023 Appalachian State University. All rights reserved.

University Communications
ASU Box 32153
Boone, NC 28608
828-262-6156
ucomm@appstate.edu

Abouts

Disclaimer | EO Policy | Accessibility | Website manager: montaldipa (beltmr) .. | Website Feedback

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Snapchat