Arizona republican., 1906-02-07
HE TOWN OF PHOENIX
 HAS FAR FOR MUSIC
Fir. Earnest Gamble PrOnounCes
 Favorable Judgement.

 yesterday with Mir. Ernest Gamble Of the Gamble Concert party which left last night for Los Angeles. Ar Gam ble said he was delighted with Phoaniy and was only sorry he could nos stay heIe longer. The party is billed for Q concert in Los Angeles on Friday night and also for one entertainment
 iH Pasadena. Another regret was that the party could not remain over last night and enjoy the opera perform ance, which ire predicted would be most delightful one.
 MT. Gamble though visiting this city for the first time, says he hopes 10 come again next year, being very much pleased ot -he size and character of the audience the night before. He said it appeared to be a most appFe- ciati.c one and he could tell by the faces of his audience that they were not mere theater- -soers but people uf musical culture who were fully cOmpc- tent to give credit wherever good work was done. or il other words an audi ence consisting very largely of musi- clans. He said he believed the city 1 possessed a larger proportion of cul- turcd and musical people than most places of its size and his remarks were not intended for flattery either as he gave good reasons for his conclusion, among them the fact that so large a number of people journey annually from the eastern states and the further fact that the greater part Of AriZona's citizenship has within recent years come from tho older states and the centers of America's best civilization. He says another reason is that there are really more professional music in- structors here of a high order of merit than one usually finds in a town of this size. Among them he paiG |. very high tribute to Professor and | Mrs. $. r. Cravens. with whose work i he Ecs been in close touch for many l years He considered himself fortu- nate in securing their services in the preliminary arranging of his visit here. | He first knew MT. and Mrs Cravens ! in Kansas some years ago where Mr. 1 Cravens, at Ottawa, at Topeka and at | Kansas City d-d notable work in the | conducting and organizing of large, | choral events as well as in their l teaching of private pupils. One of | their former pupils is Percy Hemus. | who is now sole baritone in St Pat rick's cathedral New York one of l the most noted singers in the metropo- lis. Another whose personal acquaint-
 ance MT. Gamble enjoys is Mabel 1 Crawford, considered the best alto l singer in Chicago. He met her in ! London and at that time she told him | she had learned more under the in- structiOr Of Mir. and Mrs. Cravens than any other teachers she ever had. Miss IIo Harris who spent last winter here is another of whom Mir. Gamble spoke particularly. She had planned a visit to Europe this year and was prevented
 only by ill health, being now in Otta-
 va. After speaking of others who
 owed their present success to this
 worthy couple, he said he had enjoyed
 a very pleasant hour Yesterday morn ing at the Cravens home where he met
 Q number of their present pupils
 heard Mrs. Cravens in the giving of
 some of her lessoLs and incidentally
 had some of their pupils sing for him.
 He was delighted to hear the efforts Of
 MT. Frank Hildcrbrand, whose talents
 are already so we'll known here He
 says that MT. HlIderbrand already pos i sesses many of the attributes of a | great singer and has the free and open
 easy way Of singing that is now so
 natural to MT. Hemus He says Mr
 HiIderbrand has a fine voice, a thing
 that is to begin with a gift, regard less of culture, and that even now if he
 chose to do so, he could secure an ex-
 ceilent choir position n sUme of the large eastern churches.
 Mir. Gamble said in conclusion that he hoped the people of Phoant< would fully appreciate the efforts of MT and Mrs. CTave-s in building up the mu-
 sical circles of the city as he apprec1-
 ated them personally. He related that when he first appeared in Ottawa MT.
 Cravens interested himself in his con-
 cert. Later, some five or six years ago he was in San Antonio and met him
 again where he performed a similar
 function. When his advance agent dis
 covered MT. Cravens here he was very l naturally asked to take charge of the
 concert, and tat he did sc Mir. Gam
 hle is duly grateful and accords him ,t
 large measure of credit for it's sUc-
 cess.