Valley Music Hall of Fame’s first class includes a Tony award winner. Who else made the cut?

The Valley Music Hall of Fame has its first class of inductees.

It includes two iconic university professors, a Western-swing pioneer and early TV and radio host, an accordion player who set the record for the most performances on “the Ed Sullivan Show” and Broadway’s most Tony Award-winning star.

Russell Howland, James Winter, Dave Stogner, Dick Contino and Audra McDonald (respectively) will be honored with a televised virtual induction 8 p.m. Sept. 3 on CMAC (Comcast Xfinity channel 93, U-verse channel 99 and streaming at CMAC.TV.

The one-hour special is hosted by Dan Pessano of Good Company Players and features a history on each inductee told in interviews, plus selections on their work performed by area musicians. Each inductee will eventually have their own page on the Hall of Fame’s website.

“There is a wealth of talent that has come out of this Valley,” says Hall of Fame vice chair Don Fischer.

“People who went on to become stars — regionally, nationally, worldwide.”

Some of those names — McDonald and Contino in this case — are still well known. Others, like Howland and Winter have been somewhat forgotten over the years.

“Hopefully this presentation can fill in some of those blanks,” Fischer says.

Built generations of musicians

Howland and Winter trained an entire generation of young musicians while teaching at Fresno State in the late 1940s.

Winter was at the the university for 40 years, minus the few year he left to get a doctorate degree in composition, brass pedagogy and philosophy. During his time leading the university’s brass program, his students “comprised ‘the sturdy anchor’ of the Fresno Philharmonic,” according to the International Horn Society.

Howland was considered one of the most highly regarded woodwind teachers in the US. That was before he came to Fresno State in 1948, where he was an active arranger and composer. His work continues to be performed and is still influencing academics.

Big Fresno Barn Dance

Stogner has been dubbed the King of West Coast Western Swing, the 1930s and ‘40s precursor to honky tonk, rockabilly and country music. While he recorded and performed as bandleader, Stogner also was responsible for booking acts to play dances at the iconic Big Fresno Barn. He was also a well-known radio and TV host, who had an exclusive sponsorship with Coca-Cola.

Stogner is already a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Western Swing Hall of Fame.

Accordion superstar

If anyone was a shoe-in for the the Hall of Fame’s first class it was Contino, who held almost superstar status during the 1950s.

As an accordion player no less.

The Fresno High School graduate was a well-known musician and actor who was married starlet Leigh Snowden and set the record for most appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Author James Ellroy used parts of Contino’s life and name for his 1994 novella, “Dick Contino’s Blues,” and in 1991 the actor was featured heavily in an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” In 2011, The Showbiz Society honored Contino at an event in Las Vegas that included the reading of a letter from President Barack Obama.

When he died in Fresno in 2017 no less than the New York Times ran a lengthy obit. The headline read: “Dick Contino, Accordion Heartthrob, dies at 87.”

From Roosevelt School of the Arts to Broadway

Probably the most recognizable name on the list — and the only living member of the inaugural class — McDonald has become an American cultural icon (and a bit of a Hollywood star).

She has a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and an Emmy Award. She was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2015, the same year she received a National Medal of Arts from President Obama. In 2107, she was one of the inaugural class of the Lincoln Center’s Hall of Fame along with Louis Armstrong, Yo-Yo Ma, Leontyne Price and Harold Prince.

The future hall of famers

The five inductees were selected out of a total of 10 or so nominees that came in from the public, Fischer says. They represent what the board of directors had in mind when they started the process three years ago.

“When we started this we hoped it wouldn’t be a popularity contest,” he says.

And while the first class consists of five individuals who made impactful contributions to the Valley’s music landscape, Fischer sees a wider range of opportunity for future classes, where a radio station or live performance venue like the Wild Blue Yonder could be inducted.

“I don’t think we see any parameters,” he says.

The key will continue to be input from the public. While the board members have an interest and investment in the music scene and the Hall of Fame, it’s the general public who hold the stories and history that will really determine what the Hall of Fame becomes, Fischer says.

“If we can reach them, then this becomes a really rich part of the Valley’s musical history. Instead of just a showcase for music.”’

Nominations can be downloaded from the organization’s web page at https://valleymusichalloffame.org/nominations.

This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.