MUSIC FESTIVAL

Chronicle (Levin), 25 July 1947, Page 2

MUSIC FESTIVAL

Primary Schools Give Fine Entertainment The southern Horowhenua primary schools' music festival, held in the Civic Theatre on Wednesday evening, provided a musical treat for all those foramate enough to be present. The choir, under the able conductorship of Miss C. Nation, assisted by Miss M. Black (accompanist), rendered a varied programme, comprising sea shanties, folk songs, Negro spirituals and other items that refiected the greatest credit on those responsible for their training. The enunciation of the children, together with a ready acquiescence to the conductor's baton, proved a revelation to many older choris.ers in tne audience. This being the first occasion the combined scholars have attempted such a festival, the future performances can be looked forward to with pleasant anticipation. The programme from a musical standpoint was all-embracing, including items of German, Russian, Czechoslovakian origin, Englisli folk songs, and one item, "Aotearoa," from our New £ealancl composer, Mr. H. Temple White. Some of the gems of the evening were "The Rose Garden" (Brahms) , "Slumber Song" (John Ireland), "Under Our Ccttage Window" (Czechoslovakian folk song) , "If Fortune Had Made me the Master" (Bach)- and "Aotearoa" (H. Temple White) . The choir was ably supported by Miss M. Black and Mr. W. H. Townrow. Miss Black's items were rendered in a pleasing manner, her interpretation of "Ma Curly Babby," capturing the large audience. Mr. W. H. Townrow, who was in good voice, gave a musicianly rendering of "From Oberon in Fairyland" and his sympathetic rendering of "Werner's Parting Song" was outsianding. During a break in the programme Mr. Seddon, chairman of the Wellington Education Board, thanked the festival committee for the invitation extended to Mrs. Seddon and himself to be present at a most delightful festival. The behaviour of the children in the choir and the happy atmosphere spoke well for all those responsible. The board thanked all those who had worked so. hard to make the evening a success. No one required imagination to realise that extremely hard work had been necessary, both on the part of the children and the teachers, to accomplish a remarkably high standard of work. One of the greatest values in such a performance was that • not only the children of the southern Horowhenua schools had coiiie together for r ehearsals and the performance, but the parents, too, of the various schools had an opportunity of mixirig with each other. The committee was to be copgratulated upon pioneering this movement and Mr. Seddon said he hoped it would be the forerunner of many such functions. Mr. G. H. Stubbs. senior inspector of the Wellington Education Board, remarked that it gave him the greatest pleasure to be present at such a high class performance. It gave an indication to the public of what was being done i'n schools in the way of music. The three r's, reading, writing and arithmetic, 1hat were the beginning and end- j ing of school not so many years ago, had been given their place in the curriculum and had been supplemented by-cultural subjects in due proportion. The speaker jocularly remarked that the th'ree r's in New Zealand schools were said to be rugby, racing and wrestling. Mr. Stubbs congratulaied Miss Nation 011 her wonderful accom- 1 plishment, the children for their whole-hearted support and thei Wellington Education Board for{ appointing Miss Nation as a music specialist in the Horowhenua

schools. He also thanked the committee for its untiri'ng work to 1 make the festival the wonderful success it was. When Mr. T. J. Young, who con- ; ducts the school music 'oroadcasts 'on Thursday afternoons from 2YA, was incroduced to ihe audience jand children, he was received with I long and sustained applause. Lncidentally the songs that appeared on the programme had originally been taken by Mr. Young in his broadcast sessions. Mr. Young said he thoroughly enjoyed being at the performance, and congratula.ed Miss Nation and the children on their manner of presentation. He also thanked the people for ccming to the performance. New Zealand, musically, was a young nation and this was the beginning of a gocd and sound music training for the children. It was evident that the people and children had 'enjoyed immensely the songs that had appeared on the programme. If the children could go o:n from this starting point it would not be long before ihe standard of appreciation in the community would be raised. Mr. Young mentioned it was a credit to young New Zealand that there should be such encour- ' agement for overseas art'ists of high class to come. Of recent limes these artists had been many, and j it was wonderful to think that they I have played to such large and ' appteciative audiences. This was illustrated by the tremendous reception accorded the Boyd-Neel string orchesfcra, perhaps' "the finest of its kind in the world. So 1 great was the demand for admis- , sion that it was impossible for all I who wished to attend to do so. IThat was a healthy trend and Mr. I Young hoped that the people of {the southern Horowhenua would i derive some benefit from the prim- j lary schools' music festival. I During these troublous times it ' I was impcr . ant that we tuni . to j j music because it was an inter- ' national language. Poles, Czechs, | Spaniards, Italians or any other j nationality could have 'appreciat-! ed the songs that had been pre- 1 sentfed by the choir that evening, said Mr. Young. He congratulated I the committee on its achievement. j He knew the work entailed only too ! well, for he had been behind the scenes often when they liad staged the annual festivals in Wellington. He also thanked Miss Black, the accompanist, for her delightful playing. The festival was not an lend i'n itself— it was an encoufI agement to appreciate good music ancl in that sense was well worth!while to the children and the community. Mr. F. H. Mayman, president of the southern Horowhenua primary schools' festival, on behalf of 1ns committee, thanked Mr. Stubbs Mr. Young and Mr. Seddon for their ready co-operation, without ■ which it would not have been possible to stage the festival. The committee's grateful thanks were

due to Miss Nation for her untiring work with the choir. The children had been a great team to work with and Miss Nation had obtained the best from them. Miss Black, too, was complimented

upon her high standard of work as accompanist and soloist. Mr. Townrow and his accompanist, Mrs. Bartholomew, also received thanks. The committee was indebted to those parents of the various schools who had provided iransport to the rehearsals. Other people thanked were Messrs. Walsh and Lumley for their outstanding work in arranging the staging for the choir; the manager of the ■ Civic Theatre, Mr. Holling, and his staif for their marvellous co-operation and work; Mr. L. Moss for directing the lighting for both performances; Mr. Kerridge, of the Kerridge Odeon Theatres, for his kind consideration; the doorkeepers ahd all others who had helped the committee in any way. Without their help and co-operation the festival could- not have been staged It was hoped that the festival would be an annual one. In conclusion, Mr. Mayman asked the audience to carry a vote of, thanks by acclamation to the chair for its hard work and wonderful performance. At the conclusion of the programme bouquets were presented by children of the choir to Miss Nation and Miss Black. After the final curtain Mr: Mayman, on behalf of the choir, made presentatjons 1 to Miss Nation and Miss Black as tokens of appreciation for the work accomplished. •