Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-01-02
ACADEMY HOLDS
!. FLAVOR OF WALES
iEisteddfod Competitions Start
l, After Morning Of
~.. Elimination
CHORUSES HEARD TONIGHT

The atmosphere Of bardic Wales per
meates the neighborhood of the Aca :
| DENY of Music. where the twelfth an
pual eisteddfod Is being held today
under the auspices of the Young Peo
pes Society Of the Welsh Presbyterian
Church. -.
Although there arc but two public
sessions of the eisteddfod. work Was
begun early this morning and adJu !,
| dicators held the elimination hearings ol
the contestants. There were from Q
dozen to thirty five contestants IN cach
event. but according to rules immemo
rial, only three are allowed TO take par'
in the public contests. That RUE,
however. does not apply to the choruses,
all of which sing in public Tor the
main prizes.
The musical judges are DR.. Edward
Broome, Of Toronto, and ii. Alexandef
Matthews, orgnnist Of the Church oi
st. Luke and the Epiphany, of TINS
city. Their work in selecting three OF
each class to appear at the public con =
tests this afternoon and evening occu-
pied them until the hour for the begin :
ming of the public sessions early this
afternoon.
Philadelphia was the Mecca today OF
the Welsh singers of Pennsylvania and
New Jersey. While entries for the
prizes in composition. art needlework
and the other forms of creative effort
had been received from almost every
State in the Union. as well ms from
Wales and Canada. the actual contest
ants were chiefly from the two States
mentioned. The Wilkes Barre and
Trenton choruses came in about noon
todCy.
Dr. William Surdivnl. Arch Druid of
tine American Gorsedd, is the presiding
officer of the cisteddfod, and the lit =
e?ury adjudicator is the Rev. ID. Puge
Griffiths, Jermyn, Pa. There are about
two thousand contestants present. that
number including the members Of the
various choruses.
At the | O'Clock session, the first
public one was opened with the singing
Of MY Country 'Tis of Thee" fol-
lowed by an invocation by the Rev. Il.
Il. Williams. After n song by Evan
Llcwclyn Roberts, Mayor Moore
welcomed the visitors and the con-
tcstants to the city and the greet
ings of the Matinee Musical Club were
extended by Mrs. Garrigues, Mrs. Alb
bOtt and Mrs. Maschal.
The contests proper began with a
piano solo for children of from ten to
fifteen. Schubert'S "ImprOmptu" in
Il fiat, was the number for competition.
| This was followed by the children's = solo
for voice. limited to those under six =
teen. The prize for the first was do =
mated by Theodore PresScr and for the
second by Miss Mary L. Griffith, Lam
bertville, n. J.
The alto solo for the prize given by
the Matinee Musical Club and the bass
solo for that donated by the Federated
Music Clubs of Pennsylvania came mex
and then the contest for the miXet
choruses Of from forty to fifty voices
which closed the afternoon session. Su,
! Harvard. of the Metropolitan Opera
| Company. was the SolOist and sans
! three songs.
At the evening session there will bt
contests for soprano solo. violin solo
tenor solo, duets for tenor and bass, ant
the main event of the Eisteddfod, the
male chorus contest in which six club.
are entered.
The Eisteddfod is a characteristic
Welsh institution, and is a competitive
festival Of music, literature and art
In which the winners receive cash
prizes.
The growth of the Philadelphia
EiStcddfOd has been remarkable. II
grew that building, Lu Lu Tempt,
and Witherspoon Hall, until this yea,
the Academy is used.
This years is one Of the largest evel
staged in the United States.
Two thousand dollars will be dis,
tributed in prizes. Entries In tn,
various forms have been received from
all the Middle Atlantic States, Main,
on the north, Florida. Louisiana ant