MARTY SAMMON COLLECTION FOR SALE!
A lot has transpired in the year and a half since my friend Marty Sammon died, just a day after his 45th birthday, and following a successful radio interview and live performance at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans in October 2022. Friends soon gathered at his home to help inventory and preserve his music collection and clean out the fridge, After subsequent clean-outs, Kate Sammon, Marty’s daughter gave the World Championship Old-time Piano Playing Contest and Festival bringing box after box of items to offer to contestants, spectators and collectors alike. Ian has ordered extra tables so the boxes can be displayed at the contest for sale to benefit the contest Marty loved so much.
Sadly, my sister Linda and I have also been going through several other boxes of assorted orchestra folios that Patrick Lenehan (the 2024 contest photographer) and I picked up during the last clean-out of Marty’s home in Oak Lawn IL. More than 500 small orchestra booklets that are in good condition with complete covers were included, Marty having saved them when a couple of local orchestras shut down. These folders have the piano and lead vocal parts, as well as instrumental parts for everything from sax to violin to horns to drums, many serially numbered in a huge font for easy reference by the band’s leader in selecting the program for a performance. These would be great for Junior Division competitors who would like to start a band playing music that’s 60-80 years old. All you need are a few friends that can read these charts and off you go, and at $3.00 each, they are priced to sell. Folios with ripped covers or in other-than-great condition will be available at the contest to buy even cheaper.
If you want to buy any of these orchestra folders by mail before the contest so we have less to haul to Oxford, please provide us with the title(s) and the box in which they are contained using the master list below. Priced at $3.00 each, we’ll total your sale after the postage amount is known. The post office’s flat-rate medium box is a good fit for up to about 30 folders, their rate $18.40. Most of them measure 6.5″ wide by 10.5″ tall. Lesser quantities will be $8.00 postage, boxed, plain first class. A single folio or a few in an envelope will be payable once the shipping cost is known.
We will do our best to keep track of sold music prior to loading up for Oxford so we can prepare mailings ahead of time and take those items off the active sale list. If something on the list is already sold, we’ll email you back to advise. All the music is sold “as-is” and the contest is not responsible if the piccolo or part is missing. We will process as many orders as possible before the contest and remove those titles from the physical list that will be available contest weekend. Contest personnel will assist with finding the selections you make as these fragile folios will not be displayed on the sales tables.
Also for sale at the contest, much more music: two banker’s boxes contain folios of songs (hits of 1930s, love songs, best Irish tunes, wedding tunes, etc.); many other separate boxes for Blues, Sheet Music, Ragtime and two for Organ (with lots of stuff for Hammond B3) and much more. These items are available only at the contest site and not cataloged for “sale and mail”.
Additionally, there will also be three boxes of LPs Kate Sammon also donated for use by the contest, ready for you to peruse at $1.00 each, but can’t be mailed out.
If you are buying orchestra folders remotely, send an email to me at [email protected] with the subject line “Orchestra”, listing your choices at $3.00 each so we can take them out of the inventory. Provide your name, address, and phone number and we will arrange for payment when the final shipping cost is known. Payment can be made using PayPal or a personal check made out to U of M May Piano Contest.
Thanks for your interest.
Ted Lemen, Contest Founder
CLICK HERE for the inventory available