Around The Nationals

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 75, 29 November 1940, Page 28

Around The Nationals

HELEN HARRIS, whose photograph appears on the opposite page, was educated in Edinburgh at George Watson’s School for Girls, where she received a thorough grounding in vocal and Pianoforte work, For two or three years she was a member of the choir of St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, and later studied singing in London under Signor Bozelli, formerly a director of the Milan Conservatorium. Her interests, however, range beyond music. Social welfare, especially that of women and children, takes up much of her time, and she is a prominent member of the W.D.F.U., which she has represented at two international conferences, one in London and one at The Hague. First-hand knowledge of the language difficulty at such conferences has made her an enthusiast for Esperanto, * * HILDA COHN, who will play for 2YA on Sunday, December 1, at 8.32 p.m., is a pianist who arrived this year from Germany and has made her home in Wellington. She studied music at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatorium in- Berlin, under Professor Xaver Scharwenka. She has given many public performances in Europe, and was accompanist to the Spanish violinist, Juan Manén, on his concert tours. She is also an organist. * a HEN he was in New Zealand recently, Professor J. Y. T. Greig, Professor of English at the Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, South Africa, recorded some breezy talks for the NBS. The first of these is called " Airy Talking and Talking on the Air." It will be broadcast by 2YA on Sunday, December 1, at-3 p.m. Professor Greig talks in this series mainly about talking, which proves to be a very interesting subject; and, characteristically, spends a good deal of his time in his first talk making fun of theories about how to talk. He broadcasts regularly in South Africa, ‘ * * * M4= BRODIE, whose photograph appears on the opposite page, will be re-introduced to listeners by 3YA at 8.22 p.m. on Friday, December 6. Although she has sung in public this will be her first broadcast since she returned last year from a European tour. Before she left she was widely known for her splendid mezzo-soprano voice. Listeners will look forward to the chance of hearing how it has fared in the musical climates of what used to be the European States. She brought back with her a pile of enthusiastic press clippings and personal tributes from eminent musical personalities. She crossed Europe musically from "Falstaff" at the Royal Opera House in Budapest to Molly de Gunst at Sadlers Wells. In Rome she heard Ebe Stignani and Gigli. She heard Mascagni conduct "Cavalleria MRusticana,’ and met him personally, as well as dozens of other famous musicians, Station 3YA will follow her item with a studio recital by Haagen Holenbergh (piano).