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The Historian has had mention of Eureka’s famed Baby Orchestra in previous issues but the material has been brief and lacking in some interesting details.

Thanks to Arne Leskinen, a former member of the orchestra now retired in Eureka after a career in sales, we have been able to piece together more information on a group that was once the talk of the town.

In gathering data on the orchestra, Arne has had the help of Norma (Widness) Myrland, another member of the group now living in Mesa, Arizona.

The orchestra, 19 tiny musicians, from 2 1/2 to 7 years of age, was organized in 1929 under the direction of Karl Moldrem and was called the Sherman Thompson Baby Orchestra. It promptly gained attention locally when the children played at churches and for various other groups and community functions. Within a year, the orchestra caught national attention through an RKO Pathe newsreel filmed at the Garden Court of Eureka Inn and pictures of the orchestra appeared in newspapers in the United States and Canada.

The Literary Digest, a popular national publication of that time, ran a Humboldt Times feature story on the orchestra complete with a photo. That story follows:

Not content with Yehudi Menuhin and Ruggiero Ricci, two prodigies of the violin, California produces a whole orchestra of infant players.

Some of our readers may have already made acquaintance of these musicians through the Pathe Sound News. They are looked upon as the possible salvation of domestic music, silenced by the radio and the phonograph. Eureka, California, is the well-named home of the organization, and The Humboldt Times, published there, looks to a world-wide imitation.

About twelve months ago, S.H. Thompson and G.W. Thompson of Eureka, with the aid of Karl Moldrem, violinist and teacher, conceived the idea of the formation of a baby orchestra to interest the parents in giving their children a musical education.

Today that group of nineteen tiny instrumentalists, ranging in age from two and a half years up to seven years old, has brought international fame to Eureka. Hundreds of letters from music teachers, schools of music, chambers of commerce in Eastern cities, and nationally known magazines, have made their way to Eureka inquiring about the tiny musicians. They are in demand at afternoon teas, lodge meetings, churches and luncheon clubs.

Recently the Pathe News company made a special trip to Eureka and took a sound-film, which is expected to show in all parts of the world. The picture of the orchestra is appearing daily in papers throughout the United States, Canada, England, and other countries. The enthusiasm created by their performance has become so great that countless cities are contemplating the organization of such groups, and parents are anxious to have their children learn how to play some instrument.

Although the idea of teaching mere babies how to play a musical instrument, and organizing a group of them to play together, was rather risky, the Thompsons ordered some tiny violins. They realized that it was highly essential that the baby violins be of the highest quality and material, and found it necessary to have them made in Europe. When the tiny instruments arrived they selected a group of youngsters to begin lessons.

Not a single one of the nineteen was able to read either ‘reading’ or music when they began practicing. The most difficult part of the entire effort was teaching the babies the first seven letters of the alphabet to identify the notes on the musical scale, and the first four numerals enabling them to count, according to Moldrem, their instructor. These fundamentals are necessary before note-reading can begin.

Music critics who have either heard and seen the orchestra play here, or have seen them in the Pathe News, have marveled at their team-work.

The intonation and uniformity of bowing shown by the babies has excited wonder.

While all the babies show remarkable development, three of them have become particularly proficient in their solo work. These are Dorothy Wade, James Boyias, and Shirley Richards. June Wade, nine years old, and Norma Widness, eleven, take turns as pianists and directors of the orchestra, so that the entire program can be presented by children.

Arne Leskinen recalls traveling around Humboldt County with the orchestra. One trip took him to the Town Hall at Crannell and in close proximity to a child that was to be his wife in later years. Mrs. Leskinen, then six-year old Lois Emenegger, was confined to her Crannell house when she would not consent to letting her mother pull a loose tooth as a condition for attending the orchestra program. She remembers shedding tears and hearing the music drift across the river from Town Hall.

Arne noted that the instructor had charisma, especially with the ladies, and was well liked. “Many cried when he left in 1930-31 for Hollywood.” While at Hollywood Studios, he worked on music for children and later left for New York City where he was involved in publishing violin instruction material.

Special pianists for the orchestra were Norma Widness, 11, and June Wade, 9.

Arne has offered the following information on some of the other orchestra members:

Dorothy Wade: Became a musician in the Los Angeles area and a studio violinist.

James Boyias: Took the stage name of Demetrius and became the most noted of the orchestra members. He moved to Berkeley to study in 1932-33 and toured South America on a concert tour at the age of 12. In 1941 he came back to Eureka and gave a benefit concert. Arne saw him in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1942 after he had left the Air Force. He played semi-pro baseball in Montana for awhile and then went to New York to study music for a year. He spent two years on a concert tour of the U.S., earning enough money to pay back his adopted parents for expenses on his behalf.

He returned to Eureka and worked for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and later the Eureka Police Department before going into car sales. He enlisted again in the Air Force in 1955.

Brigitta and Arne Leskinen: She and Arne were cousins and the two played violin duets. She studied music at San Jose State College and went on to Washington, D.C., and became a concert mistress. She died in 1963. Arne gave concerts at the age of 10 or 12 at the old State Theatre, now occupied by Daly’s store and at Eureka Inn. He played until he was 15 and later made a career in sales. He was born in Berkeley and came to Eureka at the age of 4.

Jack and Bill Lima: Jack is a retired Humboldt State University professor who lives at Trinidad and Bill, the younger brother, is deceased.

Jack Thompson: Entered the insurance and real estate business in Eureka. He died in a car accident on Myrtle Ave. about 10 years ago.

June Gassaway Manfredda: Became an accomplished vocalist and is a resident of Arcata.

Stanley Widness, cousin of Norma Widness, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After Moldrem, the orchestra director, left, his assistant, Ralph Owen, took over and directed the orchestra. Arne lists three people from that group as Guy Keith, a businessman in Texas oil; Ted Hash, a Eureka longshoreman, now deceased; and Helen Mattila Barnett, who, with her husband, operated Ducks Market. Owen later organized a baby orchestra in the Dunsmuir area.

Others in the Eureka orchestra included Shirley Richards, Norma Halvorson, Gloria Moore, Geneviève Ganson, Joyce Haggard, Russell Running, Betty Russell, Violet March, Blossom Fairchild, Jack Madden and Millicent Human.

Apparently a need was felt for a second baby orchestra in Eureka and this group was organized under the direction of Professor E.J. Bonner on Oct. 13, 1931. The Bonner orchestra was featured in the January-February 1981, issue of the Historian. Additional baby orchestra data appeared in the March- April 1981, issue of the Historian.

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Ed. note (from the Outpost): Moldrem went on to found baby orchestras across the land, notably in Los Angeles and New York City, which earned him a write-up in both Time and the New Yorker.

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The story above is from the May-June 1987 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.