RURAL CHOIRS AT ASHBURTON

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27739, 17 August 1955, Page 3

RURAL CHOIRS AT ASHBURTON

FESTIVAL TOMORROW EVENING There has been a revival of interest in musical activities in the Ashburton county and tomorrow evening eisht rural choirs (half of them new) will hold a festival at Ashburton under the auspices of the adult education department of Canterbury University College. The district choirs at Lowcliffe and Lauriston, and the women’s choirs at Hinds and Methven were formed this year. Thev will be joined by the Burnham Territorial Trainees’ choir, which gave its first performance last week, the Dunsandel and Rakaia choirs formed in 1950. and the Lincoln District Choir, formed in 1952. There will be 200 voices in the massed choirs’ items. All the choirs were established and trained by Mr Lloyd G. Peach, music tutor in the adult education department, but he has not worked in the Mid-Canterbury area since 1951. Now. however, the department has agreed to co-operate in organising musicaj activities of the county on -a permanent basis.

The Ashburton programme will be completely different from that presented at Burnham last week, and will include many of the 60 new works Mr Peach brought from England for performance at the two festivals.

The fourth rural choirs’ festival organised by the department this season will be held at Scargill on November 17.