BROADCAST MUSIC

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 81, 3 October 1944, Page 4

BROADCAST MUSIC

Sir,—The Hutt Valley Memorial' Technical College's concert in the Wellington Town Hall on Saturday night was an outstanding performance, reflecting great credit on all concerned. It was certainly equal to anything of its kind in Australia, and it is also certain that under similar circumstances in Australia one of the private commercial stations would have' jumped at the chance of broadcasting it. Most of the audience felt regret that parents and children throughout New Zealand, and perhaps listening to a New Zealand station overseas, could not share their enjoyment and appreciation of such a magnificent orchestral and choral presentation. That those in charge of New Zealand's radio monopoly; did not consider it, worth broadcasting, either on its merits or as encouragement to music-making in schools, is not to their credit. —I am, etc.,

JOHN HOGAN. [Professor James Shelley, Director of the National Broadcasting Service, to whom this letter was referred, said no application was received by the

service to broadcast the concert. Had an application been received it would have been considered on its merits. Similar concerts have been broadcast by the service in other centres recently.] The suggestion that such concerts should be broadcast is made also by P. Lewis, who states that a few weeks ago he heard a similar concert by the Dunedin Technical College, but only half of the programme was broadcast. "What I with others cannot understand is why these concerts (the whole programme) are not put over the air. Music lovers throughout the country would appreciate listening to such performances, apart from their educational value and encouragement to our young musicians."