BOY SINGER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23358, 29 May 1939, Page 10

BOY SINGER

DISCOVERT BY CHOIR "VOICE LIKE A BELL" TO BE TRAINED IN VIENNA FIRST EVER CHOSEN ON TOUR To the 12-yenr-old son of a Palmerston North violin-maker has fallen tho honour of being chosen by the conductor of tho Vienna Mozart Boys' Choir, Dr. Georg Gruber, to be taken to Vienna for training as a member of the choir. The boy is Lawrence Elman Day, son of Mr. L. S. Day, a widower, and he is the first boy to be chosen by the choir for training in any country it has visited. Many hundreds have been heard and rejected, and it has remained for the Pahnerston North boy to break into tho jealously guarded ranks of the choir. Like many other parents in tho past, Mr. Day addressed a request to one of those in charge of tho tour, Mr. R. R. Woodcock, that Dr. Gruber should grant .an audition to his son. The interview was arranged to take place after the matinee at Palmerston North on Saturday, and was held at Dr. Gruber's hotel. ,

The fact that by last night all arrangements were in train for taking the boy to Vienna was proof, said Mr. Woodcock, by telephone from Palmerston North last night, of tho impression made by tho young New Zealander on the famous conductor. Mr. Day had given permission to Dr. Gruber to 'take tho boy with the choir when it leaves Auckland by the Aorangi tomorrow night, and ho will sail with the choir provided tho necessary passport can be obtained in time. A power of attorney making Dr. Gruber the boy's guardian has already been drawn up. Mr. Woodcock said that Lawrence Day had received about two years' training from a Palmerston North teacher, Mr. G. Grimshaw, and although ho needed further training, his voice, a soprano, was like a bell. Dr. Gruber, he said, was very excited by the discovery. The bov woidd go to Australia, said Mr. Woodcock, and tour thero with tho choir for three months. He would then journey on to Vienna, where ho would not only receive a thorough training to equip him to take his part in the choir but would also be given a complete education.