College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Vanguard Concerts, a 54-year chamber music series slated to end this year, will continue under the umbrella of the University of Dayton ArtsLIVE program.

The University will hold its first Vanguard Legacy Concert this fall, in honor of Elana and Vince Bolling, of Oakwood, who founded the series in 1962. Elana Bolling is president of Vanguard and was a longtime volunteer at Dayton Art Institute, where the concerts were held.

Vanguard Concerts brought more than 250 performances, involving more than 1,200 musicians from every corner of the world, to Dayton with works dating from Elizabethan times to the present day. Concerts have included such ensembles as the Beaux Arts Trio, the Juilliard String Quartet and the St. Petersburg String Quartet, among many others.

Vanguard has proven that this type of music can be successful, it can enhance the community that we live in, and it is wonderful for children and adults, Elana Bolling said. Chamber music is the epitome of music it is the very top. That is what we aimed to do. We were successful and we want it to continue at the University of Dayton, and we are sure it will. They will grow it just as we did for 54 years.

The agreement between the University and Vanguard will extend the vision of the Bollings, who were determined to bring to their Ohio city the finest chamber music ensembles and soloists from around the world, according to George Houk, who wrote a book on the series, Innocent Impresarios.

Jason Pierce, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the University is thrilled to extend the legacy of what the Bollings created.

This complements and enhances the University's own presenting series, ArtsLIVE. By creating the Vanguard Legacy Concerts, we see an opportunity to better serve our students as well as the Dayton community, Pierce said.

An endowment created by the Bollings will help fund the concerts, and the University and Elana Bolling will work on the program's artistic direction and selection. The University will host at least three concerts each year under the agreement.

For more information, contact Meagan Pant, assistant director of media relations, at 937-229-3256 or mpant1@udayton.edu