Omaha daily bee., 1916-05-21
BY HENRIETTA M. REES.

- HICAGO has fully endorsed
Ia ~ Omaha's estimate Of the
III NJ artistic ability OF the
kzxyt Kellys, and OF the rare
IHkSTI quality OF their Sham.
- rock program This i,
evidenced by the following from the
Musical Leader Of the llth under the
caption OF "A New and Fascinating
Recital: ..#.
Those who delve into folklore
would have reveled in the recital
given by those clever singing and ar
tistic entertainers, Mr. and Mrs
Thomas J Kelly Of Omaha who were
heard by large audience al the La
Sale hotel on Saturday afternoon
Here was something new in the way
Of program making and recital giving
something 10 grip attention and re.
tain interest Ns quite indicative OF
its worth was the title; Shamroeks,
Tor this implies just program that
anyone might be able 10 give, but. as
matter OF fact. it is ideally suited 10
Mr. and Mrs, Kelly, and probably to
them alone Artists in the truest sense
OF the word, they sing delightfully."-
with the finest kind Of musicianship,
and have that real sense OF pathos and
humor which is born and never
taught. They can take JOY and glad
ness to an audience, and so, evidently,
thought the Irish Fellowship club
who found the program all too short
The voices Of the artists blend admir-
ably, they understand to perfection
the art Of tonal coloring and musi-
cianly phrasing TO such a degree that
the simplest folksong is gem Of ar
tistc workmanship. With brief sen
tenee or two Of explanation, and with
the happiest gift for interesting an
audience from the onset, Mr.. Kelly
introduced his wife and himself in
most felicitous style to a miscelane-
Gus audience, who, usually the most
difficult TO please, expressed delight
at every number offered. Mr.. and
Mrs. Kelly should have marked sue
cess in the recitals in and around Chi
cago, to which city they have recently
removed" :"
o
In connection with the coming visit
TO Omaha OF the Swedish Singing
Union of America, interest in which is
growing, John Helgren gives an se-
count Of the visit to Paris in 1867 Of
a group Of students from the Univer-
sity Of Uppsala. Mr. Helgren says:
"In Sweden, the land OF the Mid
night Sun, male chorus singing, has
for generations back been practiced
extensively. In 1867 a chorus com
posed OF just an even 100 students
from the University Of Uppsala par.
ticipated in an international singing
contest held in Paris during the ex-
position. This Swedish chorus, be-
ing one OF the smallest in member.
ship in the contest, was not consid
cred Of much consequence by other
participants for the reason that very
little was known of them outside
their own country previous TO this
occasion. They were unfortunate
also that theirs was one Of the last
numbers on an exceedingly long pro-
gram (they did not appear until mid
night), and that the Judges-wto, by
the way, included some Of the fore
most composers, musicians and cri-
tics OF their day-as we'll as the inn
mense audience, had listened to ev-
cry number and were by this time
getting weary and only wishing for
the contest to come to an end
THE grand prize, which was to be
awarded to the champion chorus, had
already been conceded in the minds
Of the Judges, singers and listeners
alike, TO the Belgian chorus, Les