Connecticut western news., 1900-11-08
PRIZES FOR CHOIR SINGERS.
Said. to Be Few and Far Between Ii
 New York.

Said to Re Few and Far Between Tn
 New York.
 The prizes for singers In this city in the shape of high salaried choir en. yagements are few, and the exaggerat- ed stories which are published through out the country about the large in- comes of the successful ones bring each year to New York a large number of candidates for singing engagements. They come with voices which have been praised by their teachers and many of them, when they find no open ing for them in churches, drift into the choruses of the opera. At a small gathering of choir singers one of the successful ones vouched for the follow ing story about a choir singer who for several years has commanded large salary in one of the wealthiest churches. It illustrates the difficulties that one candidate for honors had to overcome before he reached his goal. He may be called Jones.
 More than ten years ago a woman, who had taken singing lessons from an excellent teacher of vocal music in this city, went to a western mining town and for her own amusement taught singing to a few young men and girls who had natural gifts In this direction. Among them was Jones, hardly more than a boy, and at that time working as a miner. The possi- bilities of Jones' voice interested his teacher. He was accustomed only to miners life, and his natural refinement would never have been suspected at that time. Jones improved rapidly and his teacher persuaded him to come to New York and study under her old teacher.
 You have naturally" she said, lone of the best voices that l ever heard With little training you will be able to earn, by singing in choir on Sun days. about ten times your present wages"
 "Then will go to New York" said Jones, "and become a choir singer"
 The woman gave him a strong rec ommendation to her old teacher and when the latter had tested Jones' voice he said: You have an excellent voice, and with proper training you may earn a large salary with it."
 "very we'll" said Jones. You teach me until can get an engagement, and will pay you"
 "That would mean too long a wait" said the teacher.
 "why do you say thatY" asked the miner.
 "I will tell you frankly" said the teacher. T believe that your voice might be developed with six months training-that Is, physically developed. To do the work which you hope to do, however, you would have to be almost born anew. You are rough and un- couth. Go to a fashionable church to- morrow and see the men who attend 1t. Study their clothes, manners and mp pearances, then think to yourself that you must become outwardly as pre- sentable as they are and mentally, per haps very much more responsive. be- fore you can gain success. You need grooming, manners and mental devcl- opment, and believe that 1t will take you at least ten years to acquire them."
 Fortunately for the young miner. the woman who discovered him had recom- mended him to a wealthy, music loving family in this city. When they heard the teachers verdict about his voice. they assumed the expense of his les sons and put him in the way to get the other training which he needed. He was taught the manners of polite soci- ety, and these lessons were harder for him than his vocal lessons. He was taught how to dress, and, In fact. h!S training was somewhat similar to that advertised by some of the young wom- ems finishing schools. He read and studied. This vocal teacher showed him how to develop his voice and to use 1t to the best advantage. It was a general polishing process. No one would now suspect that Jones had been an uneducated. rough miner. He com mands a large salary whenever he sings. The singer who told the story said that against such obstacles not one man in thousand would have per sisted. This was an extreme case" he said, "and this mans voice warrant ed his efforts. If the average young man who had vocal ambitions to achieve In this city, however. knew the obstacles he must surmount, he would not come here to drift Into a comic op- era chorus. There Is only a fighting chance for the musical man with the musical voice, and to seize 1t he must have untiring energy. York Sun.