Returning to their roots
at Settlement Music School

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Long before Michael Bacon became an award-winning film-score composer and his famous actor brother, Kevin, became the subject of a popular parlor game, they were normal people.
At least they thought they were.
Though their parents, a world-renowned urban planner and a one-time Park Avenue debutante, were anything but your typical mid-20th-century Philadelphia couple, Michael, Kevin and their four sisters were raised not as elites, but rather as everyday citizens.
So when the Bacon brothers each began to pursue a common interest in music, they enrolled in their community’s music school, Settlement.
Today, Michael and Kevin credit the Settlement Music School for helping shape the foundation of their artistic careers. Last week, the famous duo visited Northeast Philadelphia to help the school kick off its yearlong 100th-anniversary celebration.
During a ceremony at ExecJet USA, an aviation firm based at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the Bacons revealed the final 41 members of the Settlement 100, a list of the school’s most distinguished alumni compiled in honor of the centennial.
Michael and Kevin were among the 59 prior honorees.
Though both get plenty of star treatment these days, such wasn’t the case through their formative years, despite their prominent parents.
"All of my family went to Philadelphia public schools. We rode the subway with everybody else," said Michael Bacon, 58.
"We weren’t aware that we weren’t regular people. We didn’t find that out until much later," added Kevin, 49, with a self-effacing smile.
True to form, the Bacons grew up in a narrow rowhome while their father Edmund shaped the cityscape around them as executive director of the City Planning Commission and their mother Ruth Hilda taught elementary school and volunteered as a liberal activist.
Their parents instilled a diverse appreciation of the arts within all of their children.
"Our parents insisted on it, as they were the artistic, urban pioneer types who exposed us to the arts all the time," said Michael Bacon, who won an Emmy award in 1993 for his score for The Kennedys, a PBS documentary.
"(Settlement) was one of a lot of things we did. We had music lessons at school and, down the road, I took acting classes," said Kevin, who earned worldwide fame in films like Animal House, Footloose and A Few Good Men.
The baby brother also is the subject of the game "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon," a variation of "six degrees of separation" in which players try to link actors to one another by way of their common associations to specific movies.
With close to 50 feature films on his resumé and co-stars ranging from John Belushi to Tom Cruise, Bacon is considered the quintessential link in the game.
According to Robert Capanna, executive director of Settlement since 1982 and a former director of its Kardon Northeast Branch, the school specializes in reaching out to all sectors of the community, regardless of wealth, stature, race, religion, age or talent level.
It is the largest community-based music school in the nation, with six branches and about 15,000 students. A seventh branch in Willow Grove is in the planning stages.
"We have students from literally every ZIP code in the eight-county region," Capanna said.
Some travel farther than that to take advantage of Settlement’s offerings. One student comes from Lancaster twice a week, while another drives up from Alexandria, Va., for the chamber music program.
"People come from everywhere to be part of our programs," Capanna said.
In addition to the original South Philadelphia branch, the school has a Northeast branch, at 3745 Clarendon Ave., and a Germantown branch, both of which are about 60 years old. Additional locations include West Philadelphia, Jenkintown and Camden.
"It’s not a common model and we sort of made it up as we went along," Capanna said. "But it’s really been successful. We get regular visits from (other) schools around the country who come to see how we do it."
Having active alumni like the Bacon brothers can only help Settlement fulfill its mission.
"We’re really excited not just because of the Bacon brothers, but so many other people who have gone through Settlement have retained fond feelings for the school and want to help," Capanna said.
The most recent Settlement 100 honorees run the gamut from individuals who achieved professional success musically, like Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jacob Druckman and pop star Chubby Checker, to those who went on to excel in other fields, such as prominent local attorney Beth Haas.
Prior honorees included the Bacons, Albert Einstein, Kevin Eubanks, Star Wars series director Irv Kershner, Mario Lanza and former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo.
Settlement will host a series of special performances in the coming months to continue the centennial celebration.
A distinguished alumni recital on Feb. 3 at Independence Seaport Museum will feature Jerome Lowenthal on piano and Judith LeClair on bassoon. An advanced-studies ensemble recital will be held at the same venue on Feb. 24.
March will bring performances by mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson and violinist Lorraine Glass-Harris, along with pianist Fern Glass-Boyd. For a full schedule, visit www.smsmusic.org or call 215-320-2686. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com