F—3

Late in the year the Service resumed the touring of New Zealand artists, and up to March, Bryan Drake, Dunedin baritone, Beatrice Taylor, Wellington soprano, and Valda McCracken, Dunedin contralto, had been offered tours of the YA stations. Opportunity was taken in some instances of including performances by touring artists in the Sunday programmes of the Commercial stations. In certain cases local musical combinations, such as brass bands and vocal ensembles, were recorded for presentation from several New Zealand stations. Works of a number of New Zealand composers, including Wainwright Morgan, Tracey Moresby, Ronald Tremain, Claude Haydon, Douglas Lilburn, L. D. Austin, and Bessie Pollard, were broadcast. A special programme by three New Zealand composers, Frank Callaway, Mary Martin, and A. D. Heenan, was featured from one of the southern stations. During the year 260 dramatic scripts and 217 novels, short stories, &c., were submitted by New Zealand authors, and 21 plays, 6 serials, and 4 short stories were accepted. Auditions for drama and announcing totalling 209 were conducted by the Production Section during the year. The Service continued to engage concert orchestras and dance bands at the large centres. Practical assistance to local musical societies included the loan of music from the Service's library, and making available Service orchestras for performances by choral and other musical societies, thus ensuring a better standard of public and broadcast performance. Relays of local music activities included competitions societies' concerts at the four main centres, and festivals conducted by South Otago schools, Auckland and Christchurch secondary schools, and Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill primary schools. Concerts broadcast included performances by the Auckland Teachers' Training College, the Auckland Technical College, the Dunedin Training College Choral Society, Hutt Yalley Technical College, and the Christchurch Students' Orchestral Society. The radio vocal tests conducted by the competitions societies continue to receive the support of the Service, and performances by the finalists were broadcast. Programmes of the Sunday afternoon concerts conducted by the Service in Wellington during the winter months featuring organ recitals 'were extended to include local assisting artists. In keeping with the established policy of encouraging New Zealand talent, broadcasting engagements were given to such local artists, societies, and musical combinations as had attained a reasonable standard of performance. There were 2,578 broadcasts by local artists and 674 recitals by local musical societies, choirs, and bands. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL ORCHESTRA The formation of the National Orchestra, a most significant contribution to the development of a national culture in the Dominion, was undertaken by the New Zealand Broadcasting Service during the year under review. Following his appointment to organize and train the proposed National Orchestra, Mr. Andersen Tyrer conducted two series of auditions throughout the country of applicants for positions in the orchestra. From these applicants, over three hundred in number, sixty-five were selected, and invited to join the orchestra. The Orchestra assembled in Wellington on 24th October, 1946, and at this initial assembly Their Excellencies the Governor-General and Lady Freyberg were present to wish the new venture all. success. The Right Hon. Walter Nash, Minister of Finance, expressed his hopes for the success of the Orchestra on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Government. It was fully appreciated that if the four main centres were not to be deprived of a great number of their best instrumentalists to the consequent detriment of local musical activity the Orchestra should not remain continuously assembled at full

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