Australian Soprano To Sing

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31005, 10 March 1966, Page 12

Australian Soprano To Sing

Helen McKinnon, an Australian mezzo-soprano with wide experience in Europe, has been engaged as a soloist for Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” by the Royal Christchurch Musical Society. The choir will perform the Passion in Christchurch Cathedral on March 30 and 31. Helen McKinnon was born in Brisbane and studied the violin and piano as well as singing. She appeared as a soloist with the A.B.C. and the Queensland Symphony, and then left Australia to further her singing career, studying in London, New York and Vienna. Her London recital debut received high praise from the critics. The “Financial Times” said: “She should become one of the leading Lieder singers of our day. A deep, truly musical feeling made song after song a moving and beautiful thing.” This recital was followed by numerous engagements abroad which have included oratorio performances in Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland, and recitals throughout Germany. She has also broadcast in several countries works from her extensive German, Italian and English repertoire. A publicity brochure on Miss McKinnon, printed in both German and English, lists a good number of enthusiastic quotations from newspaper reviews. “Hannoversche Presse” said, “The young artist possesses not only a very rare, beautiful and excellently schooled natural voice, evenly built throughout the entire range, she also directs this with intelligence and feeling.” The “Guardian” remarked on her “naturally rich mezzo-soprano voice—she is unusually well gifted” and the “Observer” said, “Her singing was distinguished by almost unfail-

ing beauty of tone and smoothness of line.” Two soloists who sang with the choir in the Passion last April will be heard again this month. Anson Austin as the Evangelist and Grant Dickson as Christus. The other soloists are Rosamunde Connal (s)’ Richard Greager (t), and Alan Ford (bs). The augmented John Ritchie String Orchestra will be conducted by Robert FieldDodgson. The choir’s later performances this year includeHaydn’s “Te Deum” and “Nelson” Mass with Vaughan Williams’s “Donna Nobis Pacem” on July 23, and Elgar’s “Dream of Gerontius” on November 3 and 5 with the Australian soprano Lauris Elms and the bass Raymond Macdonald as soloists. s’: $ LOADED DICE Prejudice was inevitable when comparing the sketches of the decimal coin designs with the other rejected designs for the first were line drawings, nothing more, and the others were drawings shaded to look like coins. The fact that they look more like coins on paper does not mean that they would be-good coins

.as they might not transfer well into three dimensions. One of Mr F. A. Shurrock’s designs sculpted in plastic shown to “The Press” looked very attractive. It would seem that just as blueprints are traps for non-builders, line drawings are traps for nonsculptors. S $ s

SECRET STRUGGLE The decimal coinage tribulations might be dwarfed by the struggles going on behind the scenes concerning the design of the decimal milk tokens.

This project is being undertaken by the Milk Token Advisory Committee, appointed in a moment of publicmindedness by the 20/20 Vision Group. A spokesman said the committee had deadlocked on whether the new tokens should be made of red or yellow plastic and whether they should be a size to fit parking meters. One faction wanted a pictorial design, of the Sutherland falls, to put in some New Zealand scenery and to symbolise in an obscure way the coinage leak, but this was being resisted by another faction which thought it might encourage the watering of milk. If these difficulties can be resolved, the tokens will be displayed in the 20/20 exhibition in June.

One of the three paintings by David Graham (the Hay's prize winner) in the Canterbury Society of Arts’ Autumn Exhibition, which opens on Saturday evening, has been bought for the society's own collection. It is a work which resembles the prize winner for it also has a mathmatically planned rich-coloured design balanced about an angled keystone. The purchase was blessed by coincidence for the

society’s buyer happens to be Quentin • Macfarlane, the Hay’s contest runner-up. Besides 200 paintings the exhibition, which will be held in the Durham Street Gallery, will include 42 pieces of sculpture, pottery and wood carvings, and a model and plans of the society’s new gallery will be displayed. HELEN KELLER ROLE Twelve-year-old Karen Chalmers has been selected from the many children auditioned to play the role of the young Helen Keller in the Canterbury Repertory Theatre Society’s production of "The Miracle Worker.” Patricia Merwood will play Annie Sullivan, Helen's teacher, and the parents will be played by Jim Facer and June Harvest. The play will have a dozen youngsters in the cast, including Alison Moses, as Martha, the Negro playmate, and Anthony Smyth. “We are now looking for a dog—a lazy dog, not too lively on the stage and amenable to theatrical discipline,” said the producer, John Kim. “It should be perhaps a retriever, preferably docile and old.” Rehearsals began this week and the play on April 23. PLANS FOR CONCERT The Christchurch Orchestral Society was slated by the critics last year because of the ambitious nature of one of its programmes. “The music that we’ve chosen this year is more suited to the players we have, and we hope to put on a more successful concert towards the end of April,” said the conductor, Mr Stephen Delaney, yesterday. “The orchestra now has a full woodwind section, but strings are in short supply, and we’re looking for more players.” Interested players should telephone 516-618.