• HOME
  • Visit
    • Virtual Tour And Stills
  • Learn & Research
    • A Brief History of the Town of Greece, New York
    • Designated Town Landmarks
    • Thomas W. Boyde Jr Resarch Project
    • Living in Greece
    • Historic Newspapers
    • Historic Photographs
    • GHS Program Archives
    • The Corinthian Newsletter Archives
    • Supervisors of Greece New York
  • 200 Years
    • Bicentennial Snapshots
    • The Making of “Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece
    • Pioneer Families Publications
  • Gift Shop
    • Our Bicentennial Items Shop
    • My account
      • Orders
  • Join Us
    • Warren C. Crandell Memorial Scholarship
      • Warren C. Crandell Memorial Scholarship APPLICATION
  • About Us
    • Annual Reports
    • By-Laws of The Greece Historical Society
Skip to content

Greece Historical Society and Museum

"Discover Greece, New York's Past, Preserve its Future."

Bicentennial Snapshot # 52 – Greece Performing Arts Society

March 14, 2023December 29, 2023 by Pat Worboys, Maureen Whalen and Patricia Conklin


This week we look at the Greece Performing Arts Society.

Before GPAS formed in 1969

Paddy Hill Players annual banquet at the Rochester Yacht Club, 1943, from the Office of the Town Historian

Between 1930 and 1950, people in the town of Greece had many opportunities to join in performing arts centered activities. Amateur theatrics were popular; not only was there the Paddy Hill Players troupe, but a number of churches, including St. John the Evangelist Church and Bethany Presbyterian Church staged annual plays.

By 1960 whereas students could join drama club or the school chorus or band, the opportunities for adults were fewer.

Hoover Drive School Band, 1959, from the Office of the Town Historian

1969 – the Greece Performing Arts Society was formed

So, in 1969, the Greece Performing Arts Society was formed for just that purpose—as an outlet for adults who didn’t want to give up performing just because they were no longer in school. GPAS became the “umbrella organization to pull together and coordinate all the various community performing organizations.”

Initially there were four groups, the Community Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra, the Choral Society, and a Summer theatre group. That first performance year, 1970-71, 165 people were in the various groups; they performed 20 concerts with an estimated total audience of 5,400 people.

Greece Choral Society, circa 1971, courtesy of Patricia Conklin
Greece Chorus and Orchestra practicing at Carnegie Hall, courtesy of Patricia Conklin

GPAS was born from the adult continuing ed experience of Robert Holtz who founded the community orchestra. Dr. David Felter founded the Symphony Orchestra.

Greece Chorus, with Ralph Zecchino and his wife Sandra, accompanist, standing before the choral society, courtesy of Patricia Conklin

Ralph Zecchino founded the choral society and was its director for 44 years from 1970-2014.

Rehearsing for Nunsense, Greece Post, August 24,1992

Over the years, the theatre group usually presented two musicals a summer with a mystery or comedy play or two until 2013. Now GPAS co-sponsors a student summer production.

In 1992 Greece Performing Arts Society put on Nunsense which was an off-Broadway Production that ran for 35 weeks in 1985 and it is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin, who is an American writer, composer, and lyricist. The musical Nunsense​ is a hilarious spoof about the misadventures of five nuns trying to manage a fundraiser. Sadly, the rest of the sisterhood died from botulism after eating vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia Child of God. It was based on Dan’s early life experiences, including schooling by the Marywood Dominican Sisters. The musical of Nunsense did have six sequels but Greece Performing Arts Society only put on the original Nunsense the musical.

The society had a regular schedule of annual events, such as

2017 Schedule of concerts

Some of Different Concerts GPAS puts on

2009 – The Christmas concert Program

Christmas Concert

Winter Blahs program

Winter Blah Concert

Front of 2018 Spring concert program

The spring concert

Concert at Ontario Beach Park, 1999, courtesy of Patricia Conklin

Concerts at the Shore

Supervisor’s concert, 2000s courtesy of Patricia Conklin

And the Supervisor’s Concert.

Concert at Our Mother of Sorrows Church, circa 1979, courtesy of Patricia Conklin

And they were there for special occasions such as: The 150th anniversary of the founding of Our Mother of Sorrows Church

Front of 9/11 program, 2001

And a solemn ceremony for healing after September 11, 2001.

Front RPO Pops program, 2019

They regularly perform at the Eastman theatre.

Chorus on the steps of cathedral, 1994, courtesy of Patricia Conklin

A highlight in the history of the Choral Society was performing in France for the 50th anniversary of the D-day invasion at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Broadside for D-Day concert, July 1994
Garden tour courtesy of Patricia Conklin

Many Greece residents looked forward every summer between 1997 and 2016 to the GPAS annual garden tour fundraiser.

Today, GPAS is composed of three groups, the community orchestra, choral society, and concert band. As they have for more than 50 years, the Greece Performing Arts Society continues to offer musical enrichment to the Greece community.

Learn More about Greece Performing Arts Society and it history starting with The Prelude written by Bill Coons at www.greeceperformingarts.org/i-the-prelude. If you have any General Questions about GPAS then email them at info@greeceperfomingarts.org. Interested in becoming a member of GPAS then check out their membership page https://www.greeceperformingarts.org/membership. You can subscribe to their monthly newsletter to stay up to date on upcoming concerts, events and more. The Greece Concert Band, Choral Society, and Community Orchestra are pleased to be rehearsing at 75 Stutson Street.

For Upcoming GPAS Events visit

https://www.greeceperformingarts.org/events2

Thank you for joining us today.

Next week we look at one of Greece’s most iconic businesses,

Buckman’s Dairy.

mail
Pat Worboys
Technology Coordinator/ Chief Technology Officer |  + posts Bio

Pat Worboys is one of the two Co-Director of the Greece Historical Society's Information Technology Committee. Pat is the Producer of the Bicentennial Snapshots series. Pat holds two degrees one in Information Technology (A.A.S) and the second one is in Interactive Media Design (Web Design) (A.A.S.).

  • Pat Worboys
    https://greecehistoricalsociety.org/author/pat_worboys/
    How to Watch the Sunday Bridge Talk On YouTube
  • Pat Worboys
    https://greecehistoricalsociety.org/author/pat_worboys/
    Annual Membership Meeting for the 2025 Operating Year
  • Pat Worboys
    https://greecehistoricalsociety.org/author/pat_worboys/
    A Brief History of Wegmans by Gary Harris
  • Pat Worboys
    https://greecehistoricalsociety.org/author/pat_worboys/
    Roc The DAY! 2024 With Greece Historical Society
Maureen Whalen
+ posts Bio

Researcher, writer, narrator, and a retired librarian and local historian who worked at the Charlotte Branch Library, Author of A History of the Seneca Park Zoo, and Co-Author of the following books Winning the Vote in Greece, Our Town in World War II. She is the Narrator to all the Bicentennial Snapshots.

  • Maureen Whalen
    #molongui-disabled-link
    The Fight Against Polio
  • Maureen Whalen
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Ralph Francis: Black Activist and Abolitionist
  • Maureen Whalen
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Bicentennial Snapshot No. 54: Gone, but Not Forgotten
  • Maureen Whalen
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Bicentennial Snapshot No. 53: Buckman’s Dairy
Patricia Conklin
+ posts Bio
    This author does not have any more posts.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Nextdoor (Opens in new window) Nextdoor

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Bicentennial SnapshotsTagged 75 Stutson Street, 9/11/2001, Bethany Presbyterian Church, Bicentennial-SnapShot, Bill Coons, Cathedrale De Notre-Dame, Choral Society, Christmas Concert, Community Orchestra, Concerts at the Shore, D-Day Concert, Dr. David Felter, Eastman Theater, France, Garden Tour Fundraiser, Garden Tours, GPAS, Greece Choral Society, Greece Historical Society, Hoover Drive, Maureen Whalen, Mother of Sorrows, Notre-Dame, Nunsense, Ontario Beach, Ontario Beach Park, Our Mother of Sorrows, Our Mother of Sorrows Church, Paddy Hill Players troupe, Patricia Conklin, Ralph Zecchino, Robert Holtz, Sandra Zecchino, Spring Concert, St. John the Evangelist Church, Stutson Street, Summer theatre, Supervisor's Concert, Symphony Orchestra, Winter Blah Concert

The mission of the Greece Historical Society is to discover, research, and preserve the history of the Town of Greece and to share that history with its residents and the local community through public programs, publications, museum exhibits, and accessibility to its archives and artifacts.

If you like to learn more about the Town of Greece’s history, consider Subscribing to the YouTube Channel Greece, New York History YouTube Channel and when you get there don't forget to subscribe and click that bell 🔔, and you will be notified when new content come out from the Greece Historical Society, about the Town of Greece and its past so future generations can understand how the town has taken us on multiple journeys.

Useful Links

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us in Writing

Archives

Facebookyoutubeflickr
The Greece Historical Society - (585) 225-7221

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d
      Greece Historical Society and Museum
      Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

      Strictly Necessary Cookies

      Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

      If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

      Post navigation

      ← Bicentennial Snapshot No. 51: Some Notable Women of Greece
      Bicentennial Snapshot No. 53: Buckman’s Dairy →