CONCERTS TODAY

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32354, 21 July 1970, Page 11

CONCERTS TODAY

Two lunch-time concerts, planned in conjunction with Education Week, are to be given in the Civic Theatre today by the Christchurch Civic Orchestra. The concerts have been designed for schoolchildren and teachers’ college students, and will be attended by 32 school parties from as far afield as Rangiora and Ashburton. Professor John Ritchie, head of the School of Music at the University of Canterbury, will conduct the. concerts, and will emphasise their informal nature by talking about each piece of music before it is performed. The programme includes the Overture to Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, extracts from the ballet suite “Coppelia" by Delibes, and some Johann Strauss selections. The orchestra’s participation In Education Week is apposite, because 14 of the 45 musicians taking part are teachers, and one of the orchestra’s principals is the Department of Education’s head music advisor. Two heads of sections in the orchestra are still at school. Keith Spragg (Clarinet) is at Shirley Boys’ High School, and Susan Hocken (clarinet) at Mairehau High School. This Will be Susan’s last appearance with the orchestra before she leaves to take up a field scholarship in the United States. Some seats will be available at the door for the public at both concerts, which are timed to start at noon and 1.10 p.m.