HAWERA MALE CHOIR

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 6 May 1921, Page 5

HAWERA MALE CHOIR

SCHOOL CHILDREN'S COMPETI-

TION

The Hawera Male Choir has been endeavouring to obtain the services oi Mr Temple White, the well-known conductor, to judge the copetitions. The competitions have 'been postponed, and are now set down for June 30. It was hoped to fix June 2 as the date, but that date was not suitable for Mr White, who -with so many musical societies under his control finds it difficult to leave Wellington. The Male Choir feels that, if the results of the competitions are to be as intended—to give a keen interest in music —it is worth postponing the date until Mr White can visit Hawera. Several choirs of children are at work on the song selected, and there is1 every ind;cation that the competition will be very interesting. It is hoped that Mr AVlvtte will give an address on choral work.

ROSA ALBA CONCERT. Next month Hawera will be favoured | with a visit from Miss Rosa Alba, a gifted young singer, of whom the Olago Daily Times wrote on April 26, in its report of the Dunedin Male Choir concert: "In the first place the conceit served as the occasion for the introduction to New Zealand audiences of the! 'brilliant young Australian cantatrice, ' Miss Rosa Alba, who at a iboiind leaped j into the forefront of favouritism, and i deservedly so. Miss Alba is unquestionably the finest coloratura singer that has been heard in Dunedin for years. She is possessed of a pure soprano voice of extensive range, full and round in tone, eminently llexible, cf resonant sympathetic timbre, under full control, and the transition froio one register to the other is unmarked by any trace of change. Moreover, the voice has all the freshness of youth, and the singer is peculiarly clear in enunciation. Miss Alba, after her ■ tour through New Zealand, intends to j proceed to England to obtain the advantage of experience in the wider musiear world, and a success may 'be confidently predicted for her. Her first number was the famous aria "Una Voce Poco Fa," from Rossini's ".(I •Barbiere de Seville." To a less accomplished singer the item would have

provided serious difficulties/but the^s were simply used by the vocalist to j accentuate her capabilities. Runs, i roulades, trills, and other fonus oi j vocal gymnastics were negotiated .vith astonishing ease and with a voice that, displayed their beauties to the full. It was a wise selection, for it served to show the artist alike in execution and in temperament. . . . The wonderful flexibility- and mellow sweetness oi the voice charmed the audience." On his orecent visit to . Hawera M' Frank ' Kutchens spoke very enthusiastically of Miss Rosa AMba^ who has received a splendid hearing in numerous concerts in Australia. Music lovers should, therefore, look forward to a musical treat when this artist j visits us next month. j