The Town Hall
Encyclopedia
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue
and Broadway
, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.
led them to commission the building of a meeting space where people of every rank and station could be educated on the important issues of the day. The space, which became The Town Hall, was designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, to reflect the democratic principles of the League. To this end, box seats were not included in the theater's design, and every effort was made to ensure that there were no seats with an obstructed view. This design principle gave birth to The Town Hall's long-standing mantra: "Not a bad seat in the house."
It has not only become a meeting place for educational programs, gatherings of activists, and host for controversial speakers (such as the American advocate of birth control
Margaret Sanger
, who was arrested and carried off The Town Hall stage on November 13, 1921, for attempting to speak to a mixed-sex audience about contraception
), but as one of New York City's premiere performance spaces for music, dance, and other performing arts. While the lecture series and courses on political and non-political subjects sponsored by the League continued to be held there, The Town Hall quickly established a reputation as an arts center during the first fifteen years of its existence.
It has also had a long association with the promotion of poetry in the United States, which predates Edna St. Vincent Millay
's public poetry reading debut at the Hall in 1928. The Hall has retained a close association with poets and poetry that continues to this day.
's Blue Network on Memorial Day
1935; the topic of discussion the coexistence of communism, fascism, socialism and democracy. The Town Meeting of the Air was a successful program due to its dynamic format, audience participation, its focus on subjects relevant to the world events of the day, and its ability to attract a wide range of experts and well-known personalities as participants. Although it began broadcasting on a single station with approximately 500,000 listeners, within three years, the Town Meeting of the Air was carried by 78 stations and boasted 2.5 million listeners. The Town Meeting successfully toured the United States as well as twelve cities on three continents. It won numerous awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award
(which is administered by the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia
) in 1943 and 1945.
Recordings of America's Town Meeting of the Air, from 1935 to 1952, are preserved at the United States' National Archives
' Donated Historical Materials collection, the catalog number of which is "DM.13".
The organizational records (archives) of Town Hall, Inc. and America's Town Meeting of the Air, 1895–1955, are held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division of The New York Public Library.
— were discovered during the first musical event held at the venue: a recital by Spanish violin
ist Juan Manén
on February 12, 1921. Later in 1921, German composer Richard Strauss
gave a series of concerts that cemented the Hall's reputation as an ideal space for musical performances. Aside from the acoustics, the sight lines and remarkable intimacy of the auditorium has made it a popular venue for both new and experienced artists, whatever the instrument, repertoire, or style of the performer. During the 1920s and 1930s, The Town Hall quickly gained a reputation amongst performers and audiences as "the place" for a performer to make a New York debut.
In 1928, The Hall began producing regular musical concert series, and over the next few seasons, The Town Hall Endowment Series featured artists including Sergei Rachmaninoff
, Ignacy Jan Paderewski
, Lily Pons
, Fedor Chaliapin, Yehudi Menuhin
, and many more legends of the classical Western repertoire.
Marian Anderson
, considered one of the greatest contralto
s ever born in the United States, made her New York
debut at the Hall on December 30, 1935, after she had been denied an opportunity at an operatic career elsewhere due to discrimination
against African-Americans.
Important jazz
concert appearances at The Town Hall include the June 22, 1945 concert — featuring Dizzy Gillespie
, on trumpet
; Charlie Parker
, on alto saxophone
; Don Byas
, on tenor saxophone
; Al Haig
, on piano
; Curley Russell
, on bass
, and Max Roach
, on drums
(with "Big" Sid Catlett
substituting for Roach
on a few titles) — which provided the public with its first mainstream exposure to the quickly evolving style of jazz
that came to be popularly known as bebop
. This concert serves as an unmistakable sign of how progressive The Town Hall's jazz
programming has been since the venue's inception; prior to appearing in concert at the Hall, Gillespie
and Parker
had released only one 78-RPM release, and only Gillespie
— due to his high-profile associations with Cab Calloway
, Earl Hines
, and Billy Eckstine
— enjoyed mainstream name-recognition. (Note: In June 2005, the Uptown Jazz label released a CD containing seven sonically restored performances transcribed from acetates made at the concert, which was originally supposed to be a double-bill, with Coleman Hawkins
as the headliner, but Hawkins
never showed up for his half of the gig.) The Town Hall also hosted the 1946 concert that led to the re-invigoration of Louis Armstrong
's career, and which led to the formation of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars, the small traditional jazz combo that Armstrong
led for the last quarter-century of his life.
The Hall's rich tradition of jazz
programming is continued today with the Not Just Jazz series of concerts, which not only features jazz
, but also poetry
, film and dance. Past participants in the Not Just Jazz series include: The Art Ensemble of Chicago
, the Lounge Lizards, Cassandra Wilson
, Meredith Monk
, and Allen Ginsberg
.
On May 15, 1958, Town Hall hosted the 25th Year Retrospective Concert of the music of John Cage. This performance was recorded by Columbia Records producer George Avakian, and the resulting 3-LP set was instrumental in making Cage's music known to many listeners, and in increasing Cage's notoriety among the listening public.
One unique aspect of The Hall is its Morning Performances, which are offered free of charge to public school students in grades 3 to 8, during the day. It also features programming in alliance with Theatreworks USA
as part of its Arts in Education program.
When on tour, the radio show A Prairie Home Companion
is often broadcast live from Town Hall in its New York appearances.
In September 2009 singer Whitney Houston chose the Town Hall to be the venue for her first interview in seven years, appearing on Oprah Winfrey's season premiere. When asked by Winfrey why she chose the Town Hall, Whitney said it holds a special place in her heart because it's where she performed for the first time at the age of 14.
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
and Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.
History
The Town Hall was built by The League for Political Education, whose fight for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....
led them to commission the building of a meeting space where people of every rank and station could be educated on the important issues of the day. The space, which became The Town Hall, was designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, to reflect the democratic principles of the League. To this end, box seats were not included in the theater's design, and every effort was made to ensure that there were no seats with an obstructed view. This design principle gave birth to The Town Hall's long-standing mantra: "Not a bad seat in the house."
It has not only become a meeting place for educational programs, gatherings of activists, and host for controversial speakers (such as the American advocate of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
, who was arrested and carried off The Town Hall stage on November 13, 1921, for attempting to speak to a mixed-sex audience about contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
), but as one of New York City's premiere performance spaces for music, dance, and other performing arts. While the lecture series and courses on political and non-political subjects sponsored by the League continued to be held there, The Town Hall quickly established a reputation as an arts center during the first fifteen years of its existence.
It has also had a long association with the promotion of poetry in the United States, which predates Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
's public poetry reading debut at the Hall in 1928. The Hall has retained a close association with poets and poetry that continues to this day.
America's Town Meetings of the Air
America's Town Meetings of the Air was a radio program produced at the Hall for over twenty years, beginning in 1935. America's Town Meetings of the Air was the brain-child of George V. Denny, Jr., then the associate director of the Hall. Envisioned as a means of expanding the audience — first nationally, then internationally — for the programs held at the Hall's which promoted the free exchange of ideas, the format of America's Town Meetings of the Air was a conversation between four speakers on a predetermined question. The series was launched on The National Broadcasting CompanyNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Blue Network on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
1935; the topic of discussion the coexistence of communism, fascism, socialism and democracy. The Town Meeting of the Air was a successful program due to its dynamic format, audience participation, its focus on subjects relevant to the world events of the day, and its ability to attract a wide range of experts and well-known personalities as participants. Although it began broadcasting on a single station with approximately 500,000 listeners, within three years, the Town Meeting of the Air was carried by 78 stations and boasted 2.5 million listeners. The Town Meeting successfully toured the United States as well as twelve cities on three continents. It won numerous awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
(which is administered by the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
) in 1943 and 1945.
Recordings of America's Town Meeting of the Air, from 1935 to 1952, are preserved at the United States' National Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
' Donated Historical Materials collection, the catalog number of which is "DM.13".
The organizational records (archives) of Town Hall, Inc. and America's Town Meeting of the Air, 1895–1955, are held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division of The New York Public Library.
Musical performances
The outstanding acoustic properties of Town Hall for musical performance — which some performers claim rival those of Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
— were discovered during the first musical event held at the venue: a recital by Spanish violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Juan Manén
Juan Manén
Juan Manén was a Spanish violinist and composer, born in Barcelona.His progress in music was so rapid that his father exhibited him as a piano prodigy. Having studied the violin under D. Alard, he suddenly appeared as a violinist, and met with such success that in Germany he was compared to his...
on February 12, 1921. Later in 1921, German composer Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
gave a series of concerts that cemented the Hall's reputation as an ideal space for musical performances. Aside from the acoustics, the sight lines and remarkable intimacy of the auditorium has made it a popular venue for both new and experienced artists, whatever the instrument, repertoire, or style of the performer. During the 1920s and 1930s, The Town Hall quickly gained a reputation amongst performers and audiences as "the place" for a performer to make a New York debut.
In 1928, The Hall began producing regular musical concert series, and over the next few seasons, The Town Hall Endowment Series featured artists including Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
, Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
, Lily Pons
Lily Pons
Lily Pons was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in Léo Delibes' Lakmé and Gaetano...
, Fedor Chaliapin, Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
, and many more legends of the classical Western repertoire.
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
, considered one of the greatest contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
s ever born in the United States, made her New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
debut at the Hall on December 30, 1935, after she had been denied an opportunity at an operatic career elsewhere due to discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
against African-Americans.
Important jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
concert appearances at The Town Hall include the June 22, 1945 concert — featuring Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
; Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, on alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
; Don Byas
Don Byas
Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, long-resident in Europe.- Oklahoma and Los Angeles :...
, on tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
; Al Haig
Al Haig
Alan Warren Haig was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop.Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey...
, on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
; Curley Russell
Curley Russell
Dillon "Curley" Russell was an American jazz double-bassist, who played bass on many bebop recordings.A member of the Tadd Dameron Sextet, in his heyday he was in demand for his ability to play at the rapid tempos typical of bebop, and appears on several key recordings of the period...
, on bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, and Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
, on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(with "Big" Sid Catlett
Sid Catlett
Sidney Catlett , was a swinging jazz drummer often referred to as "Big Sid Catlett" because of his large frame.-Biography:...
substituting for Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
on a few titles) — which provided the public with its first mainstream exposure to the quickly evolving style of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
that came to be popularly known as bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
. This concert serves as an unmistakable sign of how progressive The Town Hall's jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
programming has been since the venue's inception; prior to appearing in concert at the Hall, Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
had released only one 78-RPM release, and only Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
— due to his high-profile associations with Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Earl Hines
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
, and Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
— enjoyed mainstream name-recognition. (Note: In June 2005, the Uptown Jazz label released a CD containing seven sonically restored performances transcribed from acetates made at the concert, which was originally supposed to be a double-bill, with Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
as the headliner, but Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
never showed up for his half of the gig.) The Town Hall also hosted the 1946 concert that led to the re-invigoration of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
's career, and which led to the formation of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars, the small traditional jazz combo that Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
led for the last quarter-century of his life.
The Hall's rich tradition of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
programming is continued today with the Not Just Jazz series of concerts, which not only features jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, but also poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, film and dance. Past participants in the Not Just Jazz series include: The Art Ensemble of Chicago
Art Ensemble of Chicago
The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2006, despite the deaths of two of the founding members....
, the Lounge Lizards, Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
, Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk
Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.-Life and work:Meredith Monk is primarily known for her...
, and Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
.
On May 15, 1958, Town Hall hosted the 25th Year Retrospective Concert of the music of John Cage. This performance was recorded by Columbia Records producer George Avakian, and the resulting 3-LP set was instrumental in making Cage's music known to many listeners, and in increasing Cage's notoriety among the listening public.
One unique aspect of The Hall is its Morning Performances, which are offered free of charge to public school students in grades 3 to 8, during the day. It also features programming in alliance with Theatreworks USA
Theatreworks USA
Theatreworks USA is a professional, not-for-profit theatre for young and family audiences founded in 1961. The company is based out of New York City, but has touring productions that run through forty-nine states as well as parts of Canada...
as part of its Arts in Education program.
When on tour, the radio show A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
is often broadcast live from Town Hall in its New York appearances.
In September 2009 singer Whitney Houston chose the Town Hall to be the venue for her first interview in seven years, appearing on Oprah Winfrey's season premiere. When asked by Winfrey why she chose the Town Hall, Whitney said it holds a special place in her heart because it's where she performed for the first time at the age of 14.