Solo Competitions

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 153, 1 July 1938, Page 9

Solo Competitions

CITY SILVER BAND Members of the band and the public well filled the Palmerston North CitySilver Band room on Tuesday evening, when the third of a series of solo competitions was conducted. Earlier in the year a hymn solo test and a slow melody solo had been decided. This event was a theme with variations. The aggregate points of the three competitions were to decide the holders of several medals and trophies. In the senior section the winner was to hold the C. J. Boyce Shield, presented for annual competition by the bandsman whose name it carried. Mr. A. J. Berryman, of Palmerston North, held the position of adjudicator. The junior section proved the surprise of the evening. Boys of about II years of age performed with credit on such instruments as the fcSG bass and bass trombone. Mr. Berryman’s state: meat that there was undoubted talent shown and worth cultivating, besides being very encouraging to the competitors, must have been a source of satisfaction to the band conductor, Mr. O ’Hara, who undertakes the training of the junior section. The band is fortunate in having such promising young players in training to eventually HU gaps- in- the senior ranks.. The good tone produced by this group was particularly commented on by Mr. Berryman. The first four placings in this section were in the following order:—T. Mechen, cornet, selected, “Weiderkchr”; I. Marshall, tenor horn, “Kelvin . Grove”; H. Sutton, tenor horn, “Aloha Oc”; H. Dear, bass trombone, “Song That Reached My Heart.” Competition for the shield was keen and resulted in Mr. C. Hansen being placed first, having played the introduction, theme . and variation of “Fatherland” as a cornet solo. Mr.iD. Robin was second, playing “Weiclerkelir” on the tenor horn. Mr. B. Walls filled third place with a very nice rendering of “The Gipsy’s Warning” on the euphonium. Mr. H. Newth on the tenor horn played “Rosy Morn,” and Mr. C. Boyce with “Oh, Lovely Night” as a baritone solo tied for fourth place. There were only six points between the first and the fourth placings. As a player of very wide experience, Mr. Berryman said he had listened with a great deal of pleasure to the performances. All the solos played, were well known to him and . commenting on the senior division he said the playing was uniformly good. His criticisms were invariably of a constructive nature and calculated to assist rather than discourage. He expressed his willingness to officiate in' a similar capacity later in the year, when a further series of solo competitions will be commenced.. The officers of the band thanked Mr. Berryman for. his services and commented on the smooth running of the competition, there being a minimum of delay between each solo.