Herridge produced and hosted The Robert Herridge Theater, a half-hour dramatic anthology that ran in syndication circa 1959-1960[3] or in 1961[4] (sources vary), primarily on educational television stations.[4] One edition, "The Sound of Miles Davis", which Herridge referred to onscreen as "a story told in the language of music", consisted of an April 2, 1959, jazz concert by Davis, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and the Gil Evans Orchestra at CBS TV's Studio 61. It aired July 21, 1960.[5][6]
Herridge's professional interests extended beyond the world of Jazz as well. In the realm of classical music, he also produced the prime-time special Spring Festival of Music for CBS Television in 1960. The program was created at CBS in collaboration with the director Roger Englander. It showcased performances by several leading American musicians and orchestral ensembles including: Alfredo Antonini, John Browning, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air.[7]
During the course of his career, Robert Herridge was the recipient of several professional awards including the George Foster Peabody Award and three Emmy Awards.[1]
^As per the July 30, 2009, WNET rerun of the installment "The Sound of Miles Davis", which refers to the program being "not seen for 50 years" and is copyright 1959 CBS Films; and per Miles Ahead Website: Miles Ahead Session Details, which gives the original date of the session as April 2, 1959, and the airdate of the episode as July 21, 1960
^ abMcNeil, Alex. Total Television, fourth edition. (Penguin Books, 1997), p. 700. ISBN0-14-026737-9, ISBN978-0-14-026737-2. NOTE: Though listed here as "Robert Herridge Theatre", with no "The" and with the last word spelled "Theatre", the title onscreen as per the WNET rerun noted above shows the title The Robert Herridge Theater.
^Television and the Performing Arts. Brian G. Rose. Greenwood Press, New York 1986 p. 104 ISBN0-313-24159-7 "Spring Festival of Music" Alfredo Antonini, Symphony of the Air, Robert Herridge and John Browning collaborating on books.google
