Concert fun, but no record

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 6

Concert fun, but no record

By

ANABRIGHT HAY

No musician was too old, too young or too lacking in talent to play in the “Summer Times” Extraordinary Orchestra at North Hagley Park last evening. The most extraordinary aspect of the concert was the wide range of ages of orchestra members and the types of instruments many of them played:

Aboriginal music sticks, thunder boards and Chinese flutes, together with a good selection of the more usual orchestral instruments. The event was held to try to break the record for the world’s largest orchestra set in June, 1872, when Johann Strauss the younger, conducted an orchestra of 987 instruments at the World Peace Jubilee in

Boston. With 500 to 600 players in the extraordinary orchestra, the record remains unbroken but everyone appeared to have had a lot of fun. Under the baton of Mr Tony Ryan, head of music at Lincoln High School, the orchestra achieved a remarkably harmonious sound and the audience was able to join in with

finger clicking in "The Pink Panther” theme and clapping to “Tourdion.” One couple felt so inspired by the rendition of the “Blue Danube” that they waltzed. Mr Ryan said most people seemed able to play their instruments and kept together well. Morag Findlay, aged 13, of Christchurch, plays the cello in the Cashmere High School orchestra and

enjoyed the experience of playing with so large a group. A member of the Christchurch Orchestral Society, Mr Knox Cook, aged 78, said he had never played his double bass outdoors before. For the audience, which was smaller in size than the orchestra, it was an enjoyable way to spend an evening and learn how music is made.