NEW ZEALAND ORCHESTRA

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20923, 30 September 1939, Page 17 (Supplement)

NEW ZEALAND ORCHESTRA

EXHIBITION CABARET—CONDUCTOR FROM ENGLAND

Very glad to be back in New Zealand is Manuel Raymond, better known here perhaps as “Manny” Hyman, who has arrived to take up his appointment as director of the cabaret orchestra at the National Centennial Exhibition. He was musical director to the New Zealand International and South Seas Exhibition at Dunedin in 1925-26, and afterwards was the conductor of the orchestra at the Adelphi Cabaret in Wellington. He also toured the picture theatres as a dancing violinist. Since those days Mr Raymond has gone far in the musical world. He has conducted the orchestras at many London places of entertainment, including the Ritz, Savoy, Dorchester, and Romano’s, and when he was appointed to organise and conduct the orchestra for the cabaret at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition he was musical director to Frascati’s, in London. In addition, he has done film work and has made gramophone recordings. i Key Members of Orchestra Mr Raymond has brought with him : two key members of the orchestra he is to form here. They are George Taylor, arranger and first trumpet, and Ken Wooldridge, who plays the saxophone, clarinet and flute, and is a vocalist. They have been associ- J ated with him for some time. Mr i Raymond intends forming an orchestra of about twelve from the ranks j of New Zealand musicians. Mr Raymond has a high opinion of New Zealand musicians. He said

| that it would probably take him ■ about two weeks to form the or- ’ chestra, and after that they would j get down to real business. > i “I want to give visitors to the Ex- ! hibition something good,” he said. I ; shall try and get the orchestra up to the standard of the orchestras at Home, and there is no reason why that shouldn’t be done. You have the musicians here; they are of a very high standard, and as some evidence of that there is the fact that evfen in Australia New Zealand musicians seem to get to the top. All they need is a little coaching and bringing ‘out of their shell’.” New Tunes and Novelty Dances Mr Raymond said that he would be introducing some new tunes and some novelty dances. Some of these might not be new to everybody, but he hoped to make them different by the way he “put them over.” j Mr Raymond left England for New | Zealand two weeks before war broke j out. Up to then, he said, business j in the entertainment world had been ! very good. For a time after war was declared, the restaurants and places of entertainment had had to close early. As soon as things settled down a little, he felt that everything would be all right again, j “I understand,” he added, “that ! they are going on making films as : usual. The tempo of the nation must j be maintained to some extent; they ; must give the people some amusement. If everything were allowed to go flat, that would break the morale of the people altogether.”