A SINGER’S RETURN

Southland Times, Issue 20664, 20 April 1929, Page 12

A SINGER’S RETURN

MR MARTIN DUFF. After an absence of nine years, during which he toured America and England on the concert, stage as a tenor singer. Mr Martin Duff has returned to New Zealand with a wife and with a “Mac” attached to the front of his name. He took his wife unto him in London, and the addition to his stage name in Brisbane, where by mistake he was billed as "Mac Duff.

“I thought that the ‘Mac’ was lucky because in Brisbane I was fortunate enough to win £lOOO in the lottery known as the Queensland Golden Casket,’’ declared MiDuff. “The addition to my name is also appropriate because I am Scotch, and perhaps superstitious. From Dunedin I intend to start on a concert tour of New Zealand, including some of the smaller towns as well as the cities. After that I may consider one or two offers in Australia, and will then return to England, where work on the music hall stage is plentiful.”

Mr Duff was born in Scotland, and came to New Zealand when a boy. He received most of his vocal training in Dunedin, under the late Miss Bessie Hume, and his training was completed in Paris under the direction of Signor Jean d’Reske. Mr Duff left New Zealand in 1920 and toured Australia till the end of the following year, when he performed in the musical interludes with the big cinemas of America.

Ultimately arriving in London, Mr Duff took part in many of the well-known Sunday League concerts. He found that concert work in England did not offer many opportunities, so he was compelled to take to the variety stage. While in London he met Miss Ivy Jermyn, a violinist, who studied at the London Guildhall and won several scholarships of the London Guildhall of Music. She also won a Drapers’ Company scholarship, which carried with it £BO and tuition. After the pair were married, Mr Duff arranged a musical presentation and they appeared at. all the big halls, including the London Coliseum. On a trip to Australia he won the £lOOO in the Queensland Golden Casket, and added to both his world possessions and his stage name. Returning to London for another visit, he left again on February 7 by the Moldavia, via Suez, and arrived in Sydney on March 21. After two weeks there, he travelled by the Maunganui to Wellington, and then by the Manuka to Lyttelton, where he arrived recently. Mr Duff intends making the concert tour of New Zealand with his wife and a good pianiste. He expects to be in the Dominion for about six months.