Grand Concert Sesquicentennial Electro Music by Telegraph:

On December 29, 1874, Elisha Gray (1835-1901) demonstrated the telephone, transferring synthesized music and other performances from the Presbyterian Manse to a violin at the Church.

The Highland Park Historical Society will launch its 2025 programming with a celebration of this first concert broadcast. Graciously hosted by the Presbyterian Church, the concert will take place, 7:30 PM on January 19, 2025. The Church Choir will perform selections from the original concert program, interspersed with historical presentations. Keeping with the virtual innovation theme, there will be a demonstration of telephony and electro-harmonic device (U.S. Letters Patent No. 186,340) with a replica created and presented by Oberlin Professor Emeritus Roderick Knight.