The living arts

Press, 4 December 1979, Page 12

The living arts

Dance awards Three commercial cash and trophy awards have been made to dancers with the New Zealand Ballet. The first, an award for the most improved firstyear dancer, was presented by Bob Jones, who is now the ballet’s special projects director. The winner is a Stokes Valley dancer, Caroline Steele. The Computer Consultants Award of $250 and a trophy for artistic ahcievement (male) went to the head of the company. Jon Trimmer, who has danced with the company since 1958. The H. W. Smith, Ltd, Award for artistic ahcievement (female) went to Patricia Rianne for her production of and dancing in “La Sylphide.” Miss Rianne now lives in Germany with her husband and young son, but has just spent three months with the company. Court switch

The Court Theatre's production for children. “Big Noise at Fort Issimo,” will move to the James HayTheatre next week to complete its season, and its place will be taken at the Court by a show with a difference — “Till the Boys Come Home,” a musical set during the Second World War.

The show takes a lighthearted view of the lives of three New Zealand women doing their best on the Home Front between 1939 and 1945.

The script is by Ken Hudson, the direction by Elric Hooper, and the cast comprises Dianna Briant. Yvonne Martin, Sandra Rasmussen, and a newcomer to the Court, Alistair Browning. Ivy Penniket is musical director. The show features dancing as well as 40 familiar songs of the era. It will play nightly from December 11 to December 22, and reopen in the New Year to run from January 3 to 19. This will be the first time the Court Theatre has provided entertainment during the holidays. Choir. etc.

A programme of choral, vocal instrumental and organ music will be presented in St John’s Anglican Church, Rangiora. by the St John Singers on Thurdsay. The chamber orchestra of the Chri-frh, t rrb ’-•-•j schools, under the direction or Luc.*- u play music by Corelli. Mozart and Harold Darke, with David Giiling (violin) and Christopher Kane (cello) as soloists. A Woodend soprano. Annexes Pekelharing, with Julie Holcroft at the piano, will sing several of Canteloube's “Songs of the Auvergne" and three French-Canadian songs, and the Christchurch organist, Barry Brinson will accompany the St John Singers in a set of sacred songs for organ

and treble voices by a contemporary English composer. Alan Ridout. The six short songs of the cycle are all sixteenth and seventeenth-century

Barry Brinson will playtwo short pieces byFrancis Jackson and J. S. Bach, but the highlight of the recital will be a performance by the choir, under Peter G. Dawe, of the Michael Flanders/Joseph Horovitz cantata, “Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo.”

Concerto round Thirty-six young musicians, a record number, will play off the first stage next week in New Zealand’s major music award — the Christchurch Civic Music Council’s national concerto competition.

The competition is held annually, and alternates between pianists and players of other instruments. This year it is the turn of the “other instruments.” Six semi-finalists will be selected from preliminary sessions on Monday and Tuesday, and they will “play off” on Tuesday night. Three of them will go to the final. The preliminary sessions will be held in the James Hay Theatre at 9.30 a.m., 2.00 p.m., and 7.30 p.m. each day. The three finalists will perform at a public concert in the Town Hall on Saturday, February 9, for prizes of $BOO, $4OO and $2OO.

Seventeen of the entrants are from Christchurch. This ctrmpetiton is unusual in that entrants are permitted to choose their own work, instead of playing set pieces. Composers represented this year range from Bach and Vivaldi to Gordon Jacob and Malcolm Arnold, providing very varied musical fare.

An overseas judge has been engaged for the preliminary stages of the competition, for the first time.

He is Keith Field, principal lecturer at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, who judged the final last year. The Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council has recognised the national importance of this competition over the past years by giving some financial support, and this year has allocated a substantial grant towards administration costs. A grant to help cover administration costs has been made this year by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, and the Christchurch City Council has also made a significant contribution. Both Waimairi and Paparua County Councils too, have contributed. Arts post

Rang! Nicholson has been appointed executive officer Of the Maori and South Pacific Arts Council.

Mr Nicholson received his training as a school-

teacher at the Auckland Secondary School Teachers’ Training College in 1974, and obtained his Diploma in teaching in 1976. He graduated B.A. from Victoria University of Wellington, and received a diploma in teaching English as a second language at Victoria in 1977.

He taught at Wainui-o-mata College in 1975 and 1976 and last year he ws appointed research officer on pre-employment programmes of the Department of Maori Affairs. Until recently he was the Pacific Islands scholarship officer of the Department of Education in Wellington, responsible for the administration of more than 200 students and trainees from the Pacific Islands who are studying in New Zealand at educational institutions such as intermediate schools, secondary schools, universities. technical institutes, and training colleges.

Mr Nicholson is a member of the Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Toa, Ngati Kahungungu, and Ngaitahu tribes and is a trustee of the Raukawa Marae at Otaki. Since 1976 he has been associated with educational rogrammes at the Raukawa Marae for students, teachers and administrators.

Carol concert Young singers will be to the fore when the Christchurch Harmonic Society presents its annual Carol Concert in the Town Hall on Saturday. The Christchurch Conservatoire Junior String Orchestra, under Thomas Rogers, will play several Christmas pieces, and a small group of children trained by Margaret Daly, who conducts in the primary schools’ music festival, will sing carols from various countries. The spoken

word will be featured in a Dickensian interlude by Wendy de la Bere, and community singing of well-known carols will alternate with carols sung by the choir.

Solo guitar A Malaysian-born guitarist, Philip Hii, who recently completed a performance course at Victoria University of Wellington, will give a recital of music by Bach, VillaLobos, and others in Gallery One at the Arts Centre tomorrow night. Hii, who was educated at Burnside High School, has studied under Karl Herreshaff and Michael Rose, and last year won the National Cup of the Federation of Classical Guitar Societies. Auditions

Auditions for “Zelda,” next year’s orie tation production, will be held on December 15 by the University Drama Society. The play, which will be directed by Judy Cleine, is set in the 19205, and is about the eccentric, or perhaps insane, wife of the novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The literary characters introduced in the plot include Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway. Ballet job

An Auckland ballet dancer, Alfred Williams, has been given a contract with the Opera House in Frankfurt. He has just completed two years study at the Royal Ballet School in London, where for one year his tuition fees were paid by the Norman Kirk Memorial Fund. The Hamilton Purple Patch, a fundraising organisation, paid the fees for the second year. Mr Williams was chosen for the Frankfurt Opera House from 44 applicants.