ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27987, 6 June 1956, Page 16

ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC

VISITING EXAMINERS’ CAREERS

DR. C. T. LOFTHOUSE AND MR K. FALKNER

Dr. C. Thornton Lofthouse (London) and Mr Keith Falkner (New York), will visit Christchurch in September as examiners for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Dr. Lofthouse is an authority on the music of Bach and Mr Falkner was formerly a well-known baritone soloist.

An outstanding continuo player on the harpsichord and piano, Dr. Lofthouse is well known in Britain for his performances in Bach oratorio and the “St. Matthew Passion,” with the London Bach Choir. He was appointed a professor at the Royal College of Music in 1922, a position he has held continuously since then. He has been director of music at Westminster School from 1924, and has held a similar post at Reading University since Dr. Lofthouse has been one of the Associated Board’s examiners in England since 1923. He has examined in Canada, Kenya, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, and India. Mr Falkner made his debut as a singer in 1925 at the “Three Choirs’ Festival” and at Sir Henry Wood’s promenade concerts. Since then he has been engaged at most of the English music festivals until recent years. He was a member of the teaching staff of the Royal College of Music in London from 1930 to 1939.

His interest in folk songs and the music of the great Tudors and of contemporary composers is reflected in his recitals. The songs of Schubert, Brahms and Schumann also appear prominently in his repertoire. In oratorio, his preferences are for Handel, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

In the United States, Mr Falkner has made many successful performances at the Cincinnatti May Festivals and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Koussevitsky. A keen sportsman, Mr Falkner has played cricket for Cambridgeshire and the M.C.C., and field hockey for Middlesex. From 1946 to 1950 he was music officer of the British Council I in Italy, and is now an associate professor of Cornell University, in the United States. He has examined for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music since 1935 in South Africa and throughout Canada.