MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 97, 22 April 1909, Page 6

MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

PROPOSED CONSERVATORIUM

VIEWS OF ENGLISH COLLEGES

LONDON, March 5. The proposal to establish a Oonservatorium of Music in New Zealand has hardly come ais a surprise to musical circles in England, in view of the recent movement in Australia in the same direction. A -representative of the Otago Daily Times called oai Monday at the offices of the Trinity College of Music, Mandeville Place, and wats accorded an interview by Mr G. E. Bambridge, director of studies. The Trinity College, it may be explained, was the first body in this country to hold examinations both at Home and in Australasia, -and.it has long been its practice to send examiners to New Zealand ■as well ais to other parts of the Empire and India. .So I-ar .as the encouragement of music was concerned, Trinity College would welcome the. fwogosed- oo'r.servatorium in.New Zealand and wish it every success. From, the teaching point of view such .a conse'rvatorium could undoubtedly accomplish excellent work, but Mr Bambridge doubted whether the musical body of New Zealand would consent to look solely to it for diplomas. Mr Bambridge mentioned the caso of South Africa, where, speaking from personal experience, no knew that there was very strong feeling in favor of the English d-ip-loma-s. There ws.s a vaguo, undefined idea that, at present at any rate, the Colonial diploma. was not SO' gfl-od . nr, 0.1.10 fro'u the '.recognised En^lk-h. bodies. To v t,-- --' tain extent- tho po-;ili'.n of South.

Africa governed that of New Zealand. In small places, everybody knew everybody, and the old saying that "a j prophet hath no honor in his own country" held good in this respect, that musical teachers of one towai would not ca.re for their pupils to be examined by their friends in the profession in another town. This feeling certainly existed.

The position in Australia, too, was interesting. The idea there was to exclude the diplomas of the Trinity College and the diplomas of the Associated Board of the R.A.M. and the It.CM., but thsre was a strong body opposed to this course. Certainly, as regarded Victoria, the large majority of the musical profession had petitioned against such a proceeding. Mr Bambridge stated that in musical diplom-as tho authorities of Trinity College advocated a policy fo freebrade. They offered no objection to New Zealand having a diploma of her own, so long as no attempt was made to exclude English diplomas from the Dominiion. While a section of the musical public might favor the | inauguration of the conservatorium, ■he felt certain that there would be mo inconsiderable section who would not particularly favor it. Mr W. H. Cummings, tihe principal of the Guildhall School of Music, was enthusiastic in praise of the suggestion. He explained that they held no foreign examination, the Guildhall School, being purely a teaching* institution. He considered that the sum named of £4000 ought to be ample. Started 26 years ago, the Guildhall School began with GO pupils, and now it has 3000 pupils and 125 professors. As to outside assistance, the' Corporation of London nominally gave them £2000 a year, but this had to be paid back in ground rent. There should be ,iio difficulty in New Zealaoid! supporting a coniservatorium, but care would have to be taken that the institution was not overburdened at the outset with professors; the teaching staff should increase as the students came in.

The suggestion, added Mr Cummings, was a splendid one, and he was very glad to hear of it. New Zealand ought to be quite independent of European help in examinations amd in other ways.