Logo: Susquehanna Folk Music Society
Presenting fine traditional arts in Central Pennsylvania since 1985

York County Oral History Project: Tales of a Musical Life

Interviews with York County residents who have a long-time involvement with music.

John Gourker

John Gourker with his trombone

John Gourker is 71 years old and lives in Red Lion, PA. He was born October 3rd, 1946. His instrument of choice is the trombone. John held a position in the York Symphony for 47 years as a Principal Trombonist. John started his musical journey in the fourth grade.

Interviewed by Jessica McAvoy

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Learn about Betty Jane Coldren Betty Jane Coldren
Learn about Adrian “Buddy” King Adrian “Buddy” King
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Learn about Cushla Srour Cushla Srour
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Learn about Earl Deveney Earl Deveney
Learn about Eleanor MacQueen Eleanor MacQueen
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Learn about John Gourker John Gourker
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Learn about Randy Heisley-Cato Randy Heisley-Cato
Learn about Randy Zwally Randy Zwally
Learn about Robert Hill Robert Hill
Learn about Ruth Jones Ruth Jones
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About the Project

SFMS began the "Tales of a Musical Life" project in the fall of 2017 and continued collecting stories through the summer of 2018. Twenty-eight people, some professional musicians and some not, were interviewed and asked questions about how they first came to love music and how music had enriched their lives. What emerged is a fascinating collection of stories which shows the diversity of music that thrives in York County, including bluegrass, jazz, folk, classical, soul, and even cowboy music!

Four of the individuals interviewed — Cushla Srour, Wayne Morris, Joe Coria, and Jerry McCoury — shared their stories in front of a live audience during the inaugural Susquehanna Folk Festival in summer 2018. SFMS hopes to be able to provide further public forums to share these stories in the future.

SFMS is indebted to the students of Dr. Richard A. Pierce’s Adult Development and Aging class at Penn State York who conducted the interviews, and to the York County Community Foundation's Hahn Home Fund for Embracing Aging for helping to fund the project.