ST. PATRICK CELEBRATIONS

Radio Record, 11 March 1938, Page 20

ST. PATRICK CELEBRATIONS

Arrangements In Main Centres-Brass Band Champions To Broadcast Performance-Pianist To Play McDowell Sonata -News From The C

WINNERS of the 1938 Brass . Band Championship, the Port Nicholson ‘Silver Band perform‘ftom 2YA on Friday, March 18. -Iicluded among other ‘items will: be. the first contest selection, "Il -Ctociato in Egitto" (Ord Hume), which they won with margin of six poitits above the Wariganui Garrison Band. A popular programme includes also "Bells Across the Meadows," an intetmezzo by Ketelbey; the hyinn "Rimington," arranged by Sceotney ; and a Cavalcade of Martial Songs, a fantasia by Nicholls. ST. PATRICK’S DAY concert, to be held in the Wellington Town Hall, will be relayed by 2YA on Thursday, March 17. Many well-known artists have .been included, and a special feature will be the singing by a massed choir, consisting of boys froth the Marist Brothers schools, Tasman Street, Thorn‘don and Miramar. Altogether there will be 500 voices, with organ accompaniment by Mr. Maxwell Fernie. Wel-known solo artists to be presented are Mr.

Harrison Cook and the Cameo Three_Mr: Clement Howe (baritone), Miss Molly Atkinsor (contralto and Mr. J. Owen Bonifant (tenor).

a ee BRILLIANT — young _ pianist, Jocelyn Walker, 1s to broadcast from 2YA on Monday, March 14, when she will play MacDowell’s Sonata in FE Minor, "The Keltic." With the publication in 1901 of the "Keltic" Sonata MacDovweil achieved a conclusive demonstration oF his capacity ads a musician of unguestionable importance. Neither in the three earlier sonatas nor in the "Sea Pictures" had he attained an equal magnitude, an equal scope and significance. (COMPOSITIONS by an English musician, F. W. de Massi-Hardman, are shortly to be presented from 2YA, Their fitles are ‘Lake in the Forest," "Valse Rondo" and Dance in G Minor. These have already been broadcast by the BBC and in a concert of British music, organised with the collaboration of the British Embassy in WNisbon, by the Portuguese Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. This will be the first time these compositions have been broadcast in New Zealand: . And Proud Of It HE green will be strongly in evidence on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, and 3YA, in common with the other national stations. will go "ail frish" for the tithe being. The Civic Players will present "Hileeh Arovon,"

and they will be followed by a pras gramme of selected [rish music. St. Pat’s Concert OR St. Patrick’s Day, next Thursday, as far as Auckland is concerned, the main feature of the annual celebrations is the big concert in fhe Town Hall. Many well-known artists will take part. The whole concert is to be broadcast on relny by 1YA, Queer Tale NLY to-day, with road-making heing pushed on to the south of south Westland, far beyond Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, is Jackson’s Bay being brought inot regular contact with civilisation. Yet in this extremely remote corner of the West Coast a! settlement was established many, years ago. How the promoters expected the settlers iv live is a puzzie, but then there were , good many such puzzles in the early days. The story of this enterprise in Jackson’s Bay, which is very little known, is to be told by Mr, M. S. Nestor at 38Y¥A on March 14, under the title of "A Vanished Settlement." There are cattle stations down there wow, but the town that was hoped for did not grow. Mr. Nestor, a young clerk in the Lands and Survey Department, has delved pretty deeply into the records of early setflement and exploration, Orchestral Ardour JITH every performance, the 8YA Orchestra, under Gil Dech, is steadily improving. The conductor’s placing of the players has something to co with it, but tt is chiefly his wide experience of all forms of musical presentation that has keyed the orchestra up to a high piteh of enthusiasm. The orchestra will be heard again on March 18. Mr. Thomas FP. West, tenor soloist, will be on the programme, The Theatre FROUNDER of the "Young Age Theatre" in England; Miss Lydia Sydney, who has been visiting New Zealand, is to give a recorded talk on Friday, March 11, from 2YA, dealing with the theatre, Sports Series LIKELY to be of interest to listeners are the recorded sports club series of broadcasts to be given from IVA. The first, a discussion on tennis by A. C. Stedman, a New Zealand Davis Cup representative -and a previous holder of the New Zealand singles championship, is to be given on March 14. Alan Fairfas, the Australian representative

all-rounder of the English tour by the Australian cricket eleven, will be featured in a cricket talk on March 31, from the same station. Fairfax was, of course, one-time holder of the fifth wicket record of 183, made in partnership with Don Bradman. The remaining talks on sport in this series have not yel been announced. Never Too Hot [2 may be hot in Christchurch, with the city sweltering after a day’s nor’-wester, but the young dancers take it literally in their stride. The next relay by 8YA of old-time dancing will be heard on March 19, by Colin Campbell’s orchestra. Dance Music Dick COLVIN’S band has been heard from 4YA frequently in the past, and its numbers have been very popular with listeners. So much so, indeed, that for a period from the beginning of March, this famous recorded dance band will be heard every Wednesday evening supplying the whole of the music for the dance hour, 10-11. There will, of course, be the usual interludes of vocal items. After Touring NOEL NEWSON, brilliant young Christchurch pianist, recently made a tour of the Australian broadcasting studios. He told the "Record" on his return, a week or two ago, that he preferred the Dominion studios to those of the Commonwealth for several reasons. Artists, he considered, worked under better conditions in New Zealand. Mr. Newson will make his first appearance at 3YA, after his trip abroad, on March 13. The same evening Miss Daisy Perry, contralto, and Mr. Francis Bate, ’cellist, present a recital, "Our Street" WELL-KNOWN as one of the bright lads of Chischurch, Mr. Denis Glover runs the Caxton Press, which is famous, or notorious, for the advanced poetry it publishes, and he writes him-

self. Mr. Glover is down to speak at 2YA on March 10 and March 24 on "People in our Street." Listeners will have to wait to find out what is behind this cryptic title, but one may be sure there is a barb in it somewhere. Masterpieces Q UILTER’S "Children’s Overture" will be the highlight of "Masterpieces of Music" from 4Y A on March 17. Dr. T. Vernon Griffiths will be in charge of the session. As if the overture were not sufficient of an attraction, there wilt

also be presented Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for two violins. Top Rankers URING the next few days several Christchurch performers, all in the top rank of their profession, will be heard from 3YA studios. They include the pianist, Miss Althea Harley-Slack, who will give a recital on March 16. Miss Slack is a: favourite with Christchurch audiences. She endeared herself three or four years ago to Christchurch competitions performers for her sympathetic treatment of their accompaniments, For P.W.D. Men (CONTROLLER of the Commercial Broadcasting Service, Mr. ©. &. Secrimgeour announces that station 2738 would shortly begin a series of special sessions for workers in P.W.D. camps throughout the Dominion. The object, Mr. Scrimgeour said, was to give the members of these lonely outposts of progress, radio entertainment on lines that he thought could fairly be claimed as something quite new. Many of these eamps, in both islands, were cut off almost entirely from civilisation. The sessions would be held weekly and would deal with every camp in the Domiinion in turn. The sessions would begin within the next few weeks and would be conducted by Mr. J. H. Ingley, formerly a P.W.D. official and now a member of the headquarters staff of the Commercial Broadcasting Service. Wilson Of 4ZD "THOUGH 47D may be only a small station, it is big on ideas. Ray Wilson, programme organiser, has a brain which moves, and since he went to the station he had introduced unlimited variety of novelties. He inaugurated the famous "Listeners’ Hour," which proved so popular it now takes a full three hours of the Wednesday night

transmission to put across. ‘The fea-: ture, composed exclusively of request numbers, celebrated its first birthday recently and was given a new name, "Your Hit Parade." A new series entitled "Lights Out," is in production. Here is novelty, for the series-consists of 15-minute thrillers to which audiences are asked to listen in darkened rooms! Shortly, another new series dedicated to the radio operators of the world will be presented. Aptly named "S,0.S.," this will tell the story of unsung heroes of land and sea. ‘Ray Wilson thinks up the plots and writes the sketches, and he long ago proved he wields a facile pen. Right now, too, he is busy planning the winter schedule. Artistry HB artistry of ’cellist David Lissermann has been an outstanding feature of recent 2ZB International Celebrity Trio broadcasts. Associated with him are Philip Cohen (violin) and Henri Penn (piano). Hard Boiled ARLY morning announcers at 4ZB, Lionel Sceats and Len Bates, have a new method of timing boiled eggs. The other morning they gave instructions for "soft boiling" eggs. Said Lionel, "Now, are you ready with that egg: well, pop it into the boiling water when this record starts. Are you ready? Go." But Lionel forgot to tell his listeners that the egg should have beet taken out when the record finished, and he did not notice his omission for some ten minutes, when the eggs no doubt would have had to be cracked with a pick. Spell It ! PRELIMINARY organisation for 2ZB radio spelling bee is well ander way. Introduced as a novelty broadcast on one of the larger American stations a few years ago, such

| contests won popularity that has spread to England. The broadcast is usually conducted by teams of five, who lose points for errors in spelling stiff and unusual words, put by announcers. Quite ! To a blackblocks hut at the foot of the Kaikoura ranges on vacation last week went L. BH. Strachan, programme supervisor since inception of 2ZB. Nearest radio set is 28 miles distant. "Doodlebugs" MAING their first appearance in the South Island, on the Monica Park Speedway, Christchurch-the "Doodlebugs," in others words midget racing cars-gave thrills to thousands more than were actnally present the other night. Station 3ZB, through Ian Mackay and "Chiv," were on the track and took lap by lap for commentary purposes. They had to do it this way because of the apparently terrific speed the tiny cars Gevelop on q 440 yards track. Listeners got a tremendous thrill out of it-they were almost as excited as the commentators, according to the letters that arrived at the station on the following Monday. Dogs ! REStLts following announcements made during children’s sessions are sometimes surprising, Recent!y Peter and Jill of 4ZB told the children that the largest dog in New Zealand would be paying a visit to the studios. This was a borzoi, one of the type bred in pre-war days by the Russian aristocracy, who were then the only people permitted to own them. They were used largely in hunting wolves. The Dunedin dog hoasts a proud name, "Boris Romanoff of Leithval." On the day he was due to visit 4ZB he leapt a fence, probably after an imaginary wolf, and cut an artery. About 3880 children and adults waited in vain in the 4ZB lounge, but Boris’s appearance had to be postponed. Since then another attraction was the smallest dog in Dunedin-pedigree in doubtand the young folk were greatly interested in the little fellow, who was "sponsored" by Jill. Nothing To Him ! MONEY means nothing to Dan Foley, Irish tenor, whose broadcasts from 2ZB brought him scores of pleasant letters. Acknowledging these the other day, he threw the pile on a fire to assist his mother in the preparation of morning tea, and was later dismayed to find that several broadcasting cheques had been included. They are recoverable, but the process will be slow. Staff Enrols ORE than 30 members of the staff of 1ZB went to the Auckland Hospital last week-not as patients, but to have tests of their blood taken. All have been enrolled as members of the Blood Donors’ Association, conducted

by the St. John Ambulance Association, a humane work assisted .greatly by Rod Talbot in his talks from 1ZB. Rod has been instrumental in enrolling over 100 memberg since he first took the matter on the air. Now that such a big membership is available, the right type of blood can be had at the shortest notice, thereby possibly saving the lives of numerous patients in need of a transfusion. Like "Chums" QUICK and favourable reaction has ‘come. the way of 2ZB’s new childrén’s session conducted by Bryan O’Brien and designed by Mr. I. FB. Strachan, programme supervisor. Based on the ideals of the ‘,Boys’ Own Paper" and Chums," it presents some revolutionary ideas in such hours. Diet Specialist DR. ULRIC WILLIAMS, wellknown to readers of the "Record" for his stimulating medical articles, is to give the weekly Friendly Road talk in place of "Uncle Scrim’"’ from 2ZB next Sunday, March 14. The talk will be relayed to all commercial stations

on national hook-up. Dr. Williams, whose theories on food values and diet as a means of relieving New Zealand of the scourge of disease, have become widely known, is ‘as interesting and provocative on the air as he is in his written articles. Sea-Devil ‘A LL those who tuned in to the Diggers’ session conducted by Rod Talbot and John Brown, of 1ZB, on Sunday week last, were delighted and entertained by Count Yon Luckner’s thrilling story showing how he successfully ran the blockade by the British Navy of the North Sea and got out on the high seas in his raider, the Seeadler, to prey on British and Allied shipping. It was the full story, and told with great sincerity and expression. and in no way embroidered by the "Sea-Devil." Baritone’s Return RECENTLY arrived back in Auckland after fulfilling broadcasting engagements in Australia with the

ABC, Newton Goodson, one of New Zealand’s most promising baritones, will be heard singing from 1ZB on Saturday next, and from 1YA on the following evening. While in Australia he studied hard, and it is his ambition to leave for England soon to further his musical studies, put not before he

goes back to Australia to give recitals on the commercial stations. Those who know a good voice when they hear one, predict that Newton Goodson will go a long Way. . Irish Music "PHD other night the ‘"Record’s" Christchurch reporter heard a dyed-in-the-wool Scottish friend say, "Ay, there’s something about the Irish songs when it comes to true and-haunt-ing melody." He had heard some from a YA station recently, and was lookinf forward to more. His wishes were gratified by 8YA when, on March q, James Duffy, West Coast Irish tenor, sang "The Hills of Donegal," "My Dark Rosaline," "The Ould Plaid Shawl" and "The Fairy Tales of Ire land." ‘The following evening he was heard in "Little Dash of Dublin," "My Wild Irish Rose," "Laughing Irish yes" and "Maire, My Girl." Trish musie is particularly liked on the West Coast of the South Island. Did Texas Hear? pfRoM far away Texas, United States of America, station 3ZB received a letter the other day from a listener who declared that he heard the broadcasts loudly enough to fill the whole house. He gave item titles and times to verify his statement. Doubting station officials looked up the log sheets to find the American was right.in every detail! Rights Of Women HiGsLy popular have been sessions on the eariy history of New Zealand, broadcast from 2ZB by Mrs, J. A.

Lee, wife of the Parliamentary UnderSeeretary in charge of Housing. -Mrs. Lee is now dealing with the history of the West Coast, where she was born. She has just commenced another very interesting session heard at 5.30 p.m. on Sundays, called ‘""Woman’s Place in the World." It deals with the revolt of women from legal and social bondage. . _ 1ZB’s New Mast HE ‘staff of the Public Works Department engaged in erecting the lattice steel mast that ‘will’ rise 225 feet into the air at Waterview to carry the aerial of the new 1ZB transmitter continues to make steady progress. Recently the first section, of 30 feet, was put up; and then taken down again to have the rest of -the mast attached. When the whole mast is completed on the ground and that will be in: short. time; it will be hoisted into position and stayed with guy ropes. The first section was so big that it was not possible. to erect it at the Government Railway: Workshops at Otahuhu. So special cranes had to be set up at Waterview to rig the mast. Incidentally, this is the biggest job of its kind ever undertaken by the P.W.B. and workshops staffs.. . For Pure Foods JP NCREASED public demand for purer and more wholesome foods was urged by Miss A. HB. Lorimer, M.Sc., in a radio interview by Mrs. Joscelyne Parr ("Marina") in. her ‘Home Life Session" at 1ZB.receritly. Miss Lorimer is an analytical chemist, extremely interested in the work of the New Zealand Food Value League, operating in Auckland. She explained that the league is composed entirely of women. In a-laboratory owned by the league, foods, sauces, jams, preserves, and so on are tested thoroughly and the purest food.in each case is recommended to the housewife. The league works in sympathy with the Pure Foods Act and hopes shortly to have 20,000 members. Instead of blacklisting impure foods, the league "white-labels" the purest and most wholesome. Members are spreading-the objects abroad, and it is certain-that a very strenuous attempt will be made by -manufacturers to bring their products up to the standard required by several thousand determined housewives. "Marina" has championed several similar causes at. yarious times in her daily session. Sang To Her OTED in the south for his work with "Jill" in the children’s session, Peter -Dawson, of 4ZB, has 4 sympathetic heart for the elderly. Recent episode gives us a new angle on Peter. A lady’ well past "the allotted span" and bedridden by a long-standing iHness, had found pleasure in listening: in to Peter; had, indeed, begun to weave g romance about him. Peter got to learn of the old lady’s interest, and, taking a bundle of songs with him, he paid a visit to his enthusiastic "fan.? Ag the invalid could not be moved, the piano was brought into the hall, and Peter spent what he afterward described as a wonderful time entertaining a very charming: person4]ity. ' : me