The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1909-05-06
fine TAlENTFO
MUSIC FESTIVAL
eROOkINGS is FORTUNATE IN
SECURING BEST.
MINNEAPOLIS ORCHESTRA
ASSISTED BY FOUR GREAT VOCAL
SOLOiSTS WILL BE HERE,

Brookings is this year very fortunate
in securing great array of talent
for its annual May Musical Festival
which will take place on May 20 and
81.
| Four distinguished vocal soloists are
accompanying the Minneapolis SYM
phony orchestra on its third annual
spring festival tour; soprano, con-
tralto, tenor and basso. The engage
ment of these four voices enables the
orchestra in its concerts to command
vocal material that will cover abso-
lutely the concert. Oratorio and opera
tic fields of song as we'll as to answer
practically all of the solo demands
made by the worlds great choral
works. Each of the four singers will
be heard during the tour in solos with
the orchestra as well as in ensemble
numbers written for two, three and
four voices, and they will also appear
at the various spring festivals in
the choral works scheduled for the
programs.
| The sOlOists for the tour were select
ed with extreme care and thoughtful.
ness, the several points necessary for
consideration having received equal
attention. The individual quality
of the voices and the artistic interpre-
tative powers of the singers were, Of
course, the first requirements to be
met. Then came in succession the
personalities Of the singers, then the
necessity of securing voices that blend
Iagreeably and effectively.
All these requirements, Mr.. Ober-
hoffer believes, will be fully and ad-
mirably met by the four singers en-
gagged for the tour. The soprano is
Miss Louise Ormsby Of New York, for
a long time soloist I'm st. Bartholmew's
church, one Of the most prominent
land fashionable churches In the metro
polls. That Miss Ormsby regards
highly the opportunity to tour the
west and southwest with the Mime
apolis Symphony orchestra is indi-
Gated by the fact that she resigned her
solo position in this church in order
to accompany the organization. Miss
lOrmsby's voice is a clear sweet SOD
rano of wide range and haunting quail
ity; it is under the guidance of an
exceptionally artistic intelligence with
a grasp of the importance and subtle
ties of style that make it as distinc-
tive as it is fascinating.
Miss Esther May Plumb, the con-
tralto, is a young singer who is rapid
ly coming into the recognition and
appreciation which her great gifts and
abilities render her due. Her voice
is dramatic contralto of great rich
ness and wide range, which combined
with inmate musical feeling and un-
usual temperament qualities, is plac-
ing her among the leading singers of
the country. Miss Plumb has made
her home in New York for a number
of years and has held number of
important church positions there and
| filled with brilliant and unvarying sue
cess a great many concert, oratOrio
and recital engagements in the east
! In Pittsburg, where she appeared sew
eral times as soloist with the Pittsburg
orchestra, critics were unanimous i'm
the praise Of her work, and stated
that she belonged in the same class
as Schumann-Heink and Louise Hom-
er.
Little need be said in praise of
Garnett Hedge the phenomenally gift
ed Chicago tenor for he is not only
well and favorably known throughout
the west by his repeated and frequent
concert and recital engagements, but
he accompanied the Minneapolis Sym
phony orchestra on their spring festi-
val tour one year ago, and created an
impression too deep and well marked
to have been forgotten. His voice is
that rarest of human gifts, true tenor
of the most beautiful lyric as well as
dramatic quality, and free from the
slight suggestion Of effeminacy that
often mars the voice of this register.
Arthur Middleton Of Chicago, has
been repeatedly called by ardent en-
thusiastic critics the greatest bass
singer in America. His magnificent
voice has that vibrant quality that
thrills the listener with it's sOnorous
beauty and carries him to superlative
heights of enthusiasm. Mr.. Middle
ton is in constant demand through
out the season for appearances in
concert, oratorio and recital, the re-
quests for his services being more fire.
quent than he can respond to, owing
to his church engagements and his
large vocal classes. His voice is one
~ dr. m OF In oulouAor nd of xxpoot f.,11-