A USE FOR THE ACCUMULATED FUND OF THE N.B.S.

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22492, 29 August 1938, Page 5

A USE FOR THE ACCUMULATED FUND OF THE N.B.S.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir —ln your leader of August 25, dealing with the annual report of the National Broadcasting Service, you call attention to the fact that the Hon. F. Jones, in referring to the design of a headquarters establishment, spoke m a very cautions way of its allowing for the “gradual development of tne many-sided conservatorium scheme. I think we are all agreed that the establishment of a conservatorium of music in New Zealand is highly desirable, but if the National Broadcasting Service proceeds with its scheme is such a very leisurely fashion as it does at present, how many years will it, be before the community receives any benefit 9 1 make the bold suggestion that progress towards the desired end imght well be speeded up if some of the huge accumulated funds (built up by bleeding the listeners, as you truly say) were used now to make grants to schools for the purpose of establishing orchestras and choirs and generally promoting musical activity in the young people. No amount of (passive) listening or educational sessions can get us as far in musical culture as (active) music-making; and I maintain that we must start with the youth in our primary and secondary schools. Some schools are already doing good work in this respect; there must be many that, chiefly through lack of funds, cannot finance the establishment of orchestras, etc. As the fruits of this scheme, the National Broadcasting Service should have, when the opening of the conservatorium is accomplished, a plentiful supply of promising talent to work on; and the thousands of parents whose money helps to swell the funds would get good return in the form of some kind of musical education for their young people.—Yours, etc.. PROGRESS. August 27, 1938.