The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-05

This announcement was made last
evening at the Auditorium toward the
close of the evening programme by
Frank p. MacDennan, who saidi
ladies and gentlemen. fellow
lovers of music: The Committee of
Twenty desires me to make the an
nouncement in its behalf that it will
present in this room on Monday
evening a marvellous entertainment at
a marvellous price.
This weeks festival of music has
been great behind the footlights.
While the necessary portion of the
festival in front of the stage has been
great in quality, It has not been so
great in quantity The terraced
chorus seen and heard in this Audi
torium Tuesday evening was a sight
and sound that has never before been
witnessed in Topeka or Kansas. Mr..
Harry Barnhart of New York, who
has been accustomed to great choruses
all his life, says he has never seen
anything equal to it except at Ocean
Grove, n. J., where the world wide
choruses, Mr.. Morgan, holds forth.
Unless Topeka can give it's May
festival larger audiences such a
chorus may never be seen here again.
In this chorus were four hundred
glorious girls in gowns of white and
three hundred busy boys in conven-
tionaa colors.
"The Committee of Twenty feels
that it has given great musical attrac-
tionS this week, but at the present
estimate. it will require the entire re-
ceipts to pay the expenses and We
need something to apply on the pipe
organ.
Furthermore. it was believed that
the week should not be ended without
giving the great masses of the people
an opportunity to see and hear this
chorus at a price within the means of
all. The seats will be twenty -fiV e
cents over the entire house, and it is
hoped that there will not be a vacant
chair.
THE success of this festival means
an annual event of country wide i'm
portance and advertising for Topeka
THE little town of Lindsborg, out
in central Kansas with only two thou
sand souls. has just completed a
musical festival witnessed by an
audience of over twenty thousand
people. or ten times it's population,
while Topeka has not given this week
one-tenth of her own population to
these programmes.
Topeka has a wonderful advantage
as a musical center. We could give
an entertainment every year which
would be the talk of the music circles
of New York and every center of
vocal and instrumental art. Linds-
borg must import it's audiences. To-
peka has great audiences at the doors
of its own magnificent Auditorium. II
has the musical talent. 1t has the
facilities. 1t has the great pipe organ
The music festival at Lindsborg is
the talk of eastern impressarios who
discuss It as they do the great feasts
of music at Baireuth. In Topeka we
do not appreciate our musical oppor-
tunities and our facilities. We have
the talent. the hall and the people
IT simply needs an awakening and
the initial efforts. Later the event
will become a matter of course and
will be looked forward to annually
even as Christmas or the Fourth OF
July.
= "The committee hopes that yor
who heard the chorus on Tuesday
will tell your friends of it and tel
them of the great opportunity they
have on Saturday evening for witness
ing this wonderful entertainment OF
popular and classical music at tht
nominal price of twenty-five cents
Reserved seats at Stansfiend's in ex
change for other tickets without addi
tional charge.