Arts and Entertainment Pop Singer To Join Orchestra

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32166, 9 December 1969, Page 13

Arts and Entertainment Pop Singer To Join Orchestra

Yolande Gibson, one of New Zealand’s most popular television and stage singers, will be featured with the Christchurch Civic Orchestra in its popular concert on Sunday. The concert will be held in the Majestic Theatre at 8 p.m., and the orchestra will be conducted by its founder, Professor John Ritchie. Many of Yolande Gibson’s appearances have been in the cabarets and hotels and she will come to Christchurch from the Logan Park Hotel, Auckland. Earlier this year she toured Australia with the successful “C’mon to New Zealand” show. She has several popular records to her credit, and will make her first L.P. soon. On Sunday, Miss Gibson will be backed by the full Civic Orchestra in two groups of songs from films and stage shows. The programme will be introduced informally by Professor Ritchie, in the tradition of previous popular concerts. Although he rarely appears with the orchestra now, Professor Ritchie was for many years its musical director, and the orchestra’s present standing is largely a result of his guidance and support The programme for Sunday is a light one, designed to provide easy listening. Eric Coates's “Three Bears Suite” will appeal to children, and Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dance” and Coates’s “London Suite” are favourites on concert programmes. The concert will open with a “Fanfare for a Joyful Occasion,” and many other favourites are included.