Fine progress shows in young orchestras

Press, 7 August 1978, Page 6

Fine progress shows in young orchestras

By

C. FOSTER BROWNE

The annual concert of the School of Instrumental Music, showing the progress made by beginners up to Youth Orchestra standard, 1 was held in the Town Hall [ on Saturday evening. It at-i, tracted a large audience. I Beginners on strings, on I' brass and woodwind, on] clarinets, and on flutes all, showed that they had made; promising starts in learning! to control the instruments] and n playing together and in tune for the most part.! Their teachers and con-! ductors are to be con-i g-atulated on work well, done, an J the children de-j serve praise for their spier.did erforts in making their instruments behave them-; se ves. In the junior orches-! tras. good progress had been; made in getting the children■ a 1 to’ use ‘he same bowing. Orches'ras 7 to 4 in descending order each showed! the marked improvement 1 made in the last vear in cohesive playing, in intonation. and in piaving expressively. The Senior Recorder En-: sembles played with breath control that ensured smooth: tone and tuneful playing. Some exceilen’ - ' rhythmical piaving was heard. A Senior Fhite Choir, con-! ducted by Mary Tatchell, plaved mast charmingiv, with very good precision and tonal oalance in their! part playing Keith Spragg’s Senior Clarinet Choir played music bv Gordon Jacob with a fine sheen to their tone and with highly promising

; technique. Orchestra 3, with Jean Fyfe as soloist, played the Intermezzo from Schuimann’s Piano Concerto. They (made a very commendable j effort, but the music is rather too subtle for them yet. Orchestra 2 and the Youth j Orchestra were both conducted by Peter Zwartz. I Here we” experienced the (benefit of the several years i of careful training these | young players have received. 'Orchestra 2 played the first movement of Schubert’s Symphony No 8 (The ! Unfinished). This was played with well-defined and contrasting levels of expression : and with responsiveness to i direction. The Youth OrchesItra played Verdi’s Overture to the “Force of Destiny.” Outstanding brass ‘playing with precise and ; stimulating rhythmic vigour 'was the outstanding feature among the many very acceptable virtues of the i rendering. At the end of the pro- _• mme a presentation was made to Robert Perks who, 25 years ago, founded the School of Instrumental X usic and with tenacity and devoted skill guided it through all its initial i difficulties. Today it stands as a memorial to his patience and forethought, and has been copied in various ] parts of the country. The success attending Mr • Perks's efforts has aroused i interest abroad, and the [(numbers of players in orijcb =tras. from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra ■ downwards, who began their

11 training in the S.I.C.M. orI chestras, is sufficient tribute - to the worth of the training, z They and the many hundreds ’of others who owe their - present love of music and attendant broadening o'l i their experiences to Mi - Perks and his work must bs .. a constant satisfaction tc » him in his retirement. s] As a last item, the com' »ibined orchestras, under Mi . j Perks’s direction played Ort pheus in the Underworld. Mr s'Perks’s son. Robin, now a e-member of the New Zealand i I Symphony Orchestra, re- -! turned home to lead this i performance. A terrific per- ) fo'rmance followed, with en- - thusiasm and eclat fit to > burst the walls of the audi- - torium and to “bring down s the house.” I — '