LEX M‘DONALD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23044, 21 November 1936, Page 9

LEX M‘DONALD

ERNEST DRAKES STUDENT CHOIR 1 How many Dunedin music lovers must have speculated interestedly on the future of that brilliant young star of New Zealand concert halls of a few years ago—Master Lex M'Donald, the boy soprano? This is a name which stands out among those artists of this country who have achieved a measure of fame in the vocal art. Everyone remembers how the purity of that sweet soprano voice and the brilliance of the young singer’s musicianship took first this country and then Australia by storm only a year or two ago before the short but brilliant career came, necessarily, to a close. The voice is gone, but the early-acquired musicianship and the polish which branded the performances of Master Lex McDonald reappear in an enhanced degree in the singing of Mr Lex M'Donald. baritone, who is to make his debut before a Dunedin audience at the Ernest Drake students’ choir concert on December 3. It is said that this young man has already developed a fine, resonant voice of excellent range and quality, and should again quickly establish his right to the high position he has already occupied in the musical life of this city. This is one of the attractive features of the programme which will be presented on that occasion. A great deal of thought has been given to providing a bill which will have a many-sided appeal. The choir will be heard in all phases of choral work, and pleasing variety will be revealed in the presentation of selections embodying the most appealing features of the whole choral field, from the majesty of Wagnerian opera and the dignity of oratorio to the fragile daintiness that is the particular appeal of the madrigals. Particularly it is Intended to exploit the fine material available in the male section of the choir and a portion of the evening will be devoted to presentations by the men. Solos will be presented by a number of Dunedin’s most highlyregarded vocalists and instrumentalists