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Creator
Ornest, Naomi
Call number
JPB 14-08
Physical description
.67 linear feet (2 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Naomi Ornest and William Yokel papers, JPB 14-08. Music Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
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Naomi Ornest (d. 2007) was an opera singer active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She was later an opera director and translator. Her husband, William Yokel, a writer, worked for the American Theatre Wing (ATW). The Naomi Ornest and William Yokel papers date from 1945 to 1989 and document the career of Naomi Ornest through scores and correspondence. They also detail William Yokel’s production for the American Theatre Wing of the WNYC radio program, Music on the Wing, through correspondence and scripts.

Biographical/historical information

Naomi Ornest (d. 2007) was an opera singer active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She was later an opera director and translator. Her husband, William Yokel, a writer, worked for the American Theatre Wing (ATW), and produced the ATW’s radio program Music on the Wing (broadcast on WNYC), which featured various types of music performed by artists associated with the ATW.

Scope and arrangement

The Naomi Ornest and William Yokel papers date from 1945 to 1989 and document the vocal and opera directing careers of Naomi Ornest. They also detail William Yokel’s production for the American Theatre Wing of the WNYC radio program Music on the Wing, and hold Yokel’s writings.

Ornest's papers consist of scores for individual songs; correspondence; lists of opera engagements and roles performed; and the libretto or score for two operas. The scores are for piano and voice, and include both manuscript copies and a few manuscripts. Composers and librettists include William Flanagan, Frederick Piket, Richard Bodtke, Arthur F. Higgins, Russell Smith, Charles Strouse, Fritz Hutter, and Joseph Marx. The two operas are Trilby (1962), by Piket and Bodtke (directed by Ornest for the Opera Workshop of New York in 1967); and Discovery (1949), an early work by Strouse, based on a play by Charles Boultenhouse and John Myers. Ornest’s correspondence is from William Flanagan (including postcards dating from 1989), William Yokel, friends, and family.

The William Yokel papers contain correspondence regarding Yokel’s work on the WNYC program Music on the Wing, and a set of the program’s scripts dating from 1948 to 1950. They also feature Yokel’s essays and other writings dating from during and shortly after World War II.

Arrangement

The papers are in two sections: Naomi Ornest and William Yokel.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Jennifer Tarlow in 2007.

Processing information

Compiled by Matthew Snyder, 2014

Original order was maintained. Most content was rehoused.

Using the collection

Location

Music Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Chief, Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.