Open Microphone

New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 902, 16 November 1956, Page 20

Open Microphone

NEWS OF BROADCASTERS ON AND OFF THE RECORD

SINGING MASTER

ONDUCTING the singing class for Broadcasts to Schools for the past two years has been "interesting and stimulating," said George E. .Wilkinson, when we asked him recently for his

impressions ofr this WOrkK, which hé hands over to Keith Newson, of Christchurch. at the end of the

year. "Probably none of the radio teaching has a wider audience than this,"

he said. "To the teacher who hasn't the ability or confidence to conduct his own music lessons, these relays are of tremendous value, and we get a huge budget of appreciative letters -over 500 so far this year — from schools all over New Zealand. It’s obvious that children enjoy learning the songs from the booklet, for meny of the letters come from them. Often the songs are the basis of programmes for combined school] festivals." Mr. Wilkinson explained that the songs were taught

as thoroughly as possible in a first lesson’*from an accurate pattern provided by the radio choir from Dunedin North Intermediate School. "The really interested teacher revises during the week," he said, "and some even record the lessons on tape so that they may be used again." The broadcasts, however, went beyond mere teaching by rote, for the children were taught in an elementary

way something of the two important aspects of notation — pitch and note values-and were encouraged to regard the melodies as sound graphs, Where songs by a _ standard composer were taught the children were told some in-

teresting facts about him and heard a recording of one of his works. Obviously sorry that his term was almost over, Mr. Wilkinson ended with thanks to all who had written to him, and with a word of praise for the radio choir.

* O you remember Larry Parry and his Sextette? You will if you’ve danced to the radio at home or listened to his Radio Rhythm Club, broadcast during the war to British troops throughout the world (writes J. W. Goodwin from Lon-

don). Larry ‘has not been heard lately on the radio and has made few new recordings. The man who once made £10,000 a year was too shy to make a come-back. Recently he was found cead in one room in Mayfair, and the police surgeon said he died from natural causes. He was 44. Larry was the first British bandleader to broadcast a regular jazz programme on the BBC.