DUNEDIN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Volume III, Issue 834, 8 January 1866, Page 2

DUNEDIN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.

Second Annual Report of the Committee, presented to the Members at the Annual Meeting held in St George’s Hall January 3rd, 1866 :

In retiring from office, your Committee have much pleasure in congratulating the members of the Society on the success that has attended their efforts during the past year. At the commencement of the year it was decided to put in practice the oratorio of ‘ ‘ Samson,” which was performed in St George’s Hall on the sth April, when there were forty members present, as follows :—Eleven soprano, seven alto, nine tenor, and thirteen bass, and the Conductor; Mr J. T. May presided at the pianoforte. The whole of the Oratorio as usually performed was given, with the exception of the duet, ‘‘ My faith and truth,” and the second part of “Let the bright seraphim.” There was an audience of about 200, of whom seventy-five paid for 5s tickets, and forty-eight for 2s Gd tickets, the remainder being admitted by members’ tickts. The concei't was attended with a loss to the Society of iiS 14s 4d. On the Gth May a concert of miscellaneous music was given in the Exhibition Building in connection with the closing of the Exhibition, the Commissioners having offered a donation of £2O to the Society’s funds. The attendance was estimated at about 1400, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather.

It should be mentioned that the ■Society sang on two previous occasions, at the request of the Commissioners —once at the opening, on the 12th. January, and once on a Saturday afternoon in February. The second concert of the Society’s year was given at the Theatre Royal on the 30th May, consisting of miscellaneous music. There were present fifty-five performing members, besides conductor and pianist, who were assisted by Mrs Mumford and Miss Bell, There were nearly 400 persons present, and the 'Society realised a profit of £45 16s 6d, The third concert was given for the benefit of the Otago Benevolent Institution, on the 12th July, at the Theatre Royal, when Mozart’s “Twelfth Mass ” was performed, and a number of miscellaneous pieces. There were fifty-seven performing members present, with the conductor, Mr West— Messrs Brown and Sykes presiding at the pianoforte and -harmonium. ; The weather being very unfavorable, the attendance was not so numerous as at the previous concert. .The gross receipts from sale of tickets by members and at the door amounted to £64 15s 6d, the Benevolent Society having only sold tickets to the amount of £2 6s. In consequence of the inclemency of the weather, the same concert, with a slight Variation, was repeated at a lower scale of admission, on the 18th July. • There were present fortyseven members, besides the conductor. - Mr Brown presided at the pianoforte, and-Mr Sykes at the harmonium. The attendance was somewhat meagre, consisting of about 174 persons, the weather being more unfavorable than at the previous concert. The receipts amounted to £25 12s, of which 12s was received for* tickets sold by members of the Benevolent Society. After paying expenses of the two concerts, the result showed a profit of £3B 16s 6d, of which sum £3O was handed as a donation to the Benevolent Society. The fourth concert was given in St George’s Hall on the 11th October, when Hayden’s oratorio “ The Creation ” was performed. Notwithstanding that the night was most unfavorable, the weather being both wet and stormy, there were forty-two members present on the orchestra, and about 240 persons in the body of the hall. The Society realised a profit by this concert of about £l6. After performing the “Creation,” the “Messiah ” was put in practice with a view to its performance at Christmas, but through unavoidable circumstances, your committee thought it better to delay the performance until a more Convenient season. The average attendance of performing mem bers towards the close of the year has been from forty to forty-five, and the number of annual subscribers twenty-seven. In presenting this brief sketch 'of the Society’s proceedings during the past twelve months, while feeling gratified at the improved position it now holds, the committee confidently hope that the steps now being taken to introduce permanent rules will result in placing the -Society on a firmer basis than it has hitherto occupied, and would urge on the members a continuance of the same energy which has characterised them in their past efforts. On behalf of the committee, P. Keam, Secretary.