In 1927, Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic, Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs, Jack Dempsey lost to Gene Tunney at Soldier Field in Chicago before 150,000 people, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed and Wilbur Evans, in his second year of study at the Curtis Institute- entered the First Atwater Kent National Radio Singing Contest and out of 50, 000 national contestants won first prize- The seed for 'American Idol'.
Of course, I would love the idea of America embracing the historical construct that my father was America's first 'American Idol'!
My dear Mr. Evans:
After soon arriving in 1930 Los Angeles he immediately dived into local concerts and was well received in the burgeoning radio L.A. market.
During this time he signed with Columbia Concert Management Agency and it’s subsidiary Cooperative-Community Concerts Bureau. They were known for sending out salesman en masse across the US and Canada -selling a roster of concert series to larger towns- usually a singer, violinist, pianist etc. These community concerts catered usually to the social leaders in each city to promote their awareness of bringing musical culture to their areas. The artists were required to perform only classical music- Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. Fortunately for Wib his interests and training at Curtis bode him well. Program making became his joy, developing a keen sense for musical numbers and repertoire.