A MUSICAL EVENT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 194, 14 May 1936, Page 8

A MUSICAL EVENT

The projected visit to New Zealand of Dr. Malcolm Sargent will be a musical event of unusual interest. Dr. Sargent is one of the most prominent of contemporary British conductors. He is coming to Australia under engagement to the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and has been induced through the efforts of the secretary of the Royal Wellington Choral Union, in association with the New Zealand Broadcasting Board and the Wellington Symphony Orchestra, to spend two weeks here in August next, daring which he will conduct three public performances in Wellington. Apart from the interest of the event, Dr. Sargent’s visit should be a valuable inspiration to New Zealand musical culture. Visiting instrumentalists and .vocalists have been useful in their way in providing standards for Dominion talent to aim at, but choral and orchestral works have been rarely so favoured. Many years ago we had the Sheffield Choir under Dr. Coward, a distinguished choral conductor, and later the New South Wales State Conservatoriuni Orchestra under M. Henri Verbrugghen. These were memorable visits, from which the community harvested valuable impressions and new standards. On the coming occasion, a gifted conductor with a high reputation in British musical culture will handle local material. The study of his methods and his interpretations should be a valuable experience for the Choral Union and the Symphony Orchestra.