ORCHESTRA IS USED TO WINTER TRAVEL

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30804, 16 July 1965, Page 2

ORCHESTRA IS USED TO WINTER TRAVEL

Travelling in the winter is something most New Zealanders avoid, but for members of the N.Z.B.C. Symphony Orchestra it’s all in a day’s work.

“We just grin and bear it,* said Mrs N. Parsons, who plays the viola, in Christchurch yesterday. As she has .been with the orchestra since its inception she has mastered the art of travelling in ail weathers.

“Knowing it’s going to be cold, we plan our winter clothing, but sometimes we are caught out,” she said. “When we go north expecting to be frozen the weather can sometimes be quite warm.” Fur-lined boots and gloves are the answer to hands and feet numb with cold during a long journey, but there seems to be no remedy for frozen fingers during rehearsals. Most audiences settling down for an evening concert would have little idea of the scene a few hours earlier. Those immaculately gowned women will have been wrapped up in scarves, ■chunky jerseys, and often slacks for most theatres seem .to be especially draughty at rehearsal time. “Most of the women seem to be able to get around most of the difficulties,” Mrs Parsons said. “Quite a few of us wear wool evening ensembles with an interchangeable long •and short skirt. If it’s a wet night we wear the short skirt to the theatre and then change into the long one for

the performance.” Having to carry an instrument which is often bulky and awkward to manage, it was necessary to travel fairly light. Evening gowns of an unerushable material were the favourite choice, and usually had to be limited to the one. “We don’t get much more than two years’ wear from our gowns, and it’s amazing how quickly the audiences come to know your clothes,” she said. For school or youth concerts women wore short dark frocks, and informal coloured gowns for the “proms.” Hairsets also proved a problem. “In this sort of damp weather it’s not uncommon for the girls to have their hair set twice a week, and this does become rather expensive.” Mrs Parsons does not have the worry of leaving a young

family while she is “on the road,” and her husband is a good housekeeper so “he manages very well. “Relatives or friends look after the young children when their mothers are away, but often the family is old enough to look after itself,” she saad. If conditions are fairly good, Mrs Parsons enjoys travelling and finds the orchestra a happy group among which to work. Asked how she felt about winter travelling, Miss Margaret Diprose, a ’cellist with the orchestra for the last three years said: “Oh, it’s terrible, but you get used to it.” Travelling light was also a problem. “I have to carry my ’cello and so I can only manage one suitcase,” she said. “It’s almost impossible to fit everything in, so I have been only able to bring two jerseys and slacks, of course.” Although her hands looked blue with cold after an hour’s rehearsal in a chilly theatre, Miss Diprose said she kept quite warm while she was playing. “Some people feel the cold very much, and have trouble with chilblains, but I manage quite well,” she said.