Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1922-05-29
MUSIC FESTIVAL
A DECIDED SUCCESS
Annual Artistic Event At East
ern Delights Large Audience
Each Program


lovers last week. Prof. Barnes
head of the music department
achieved an unusual success at &
time when other activities in the
city and at the institution might
have daunted one with less en-
ergy and ambition. Rarely dc
organizations and artists so young
accomplish such a success as the
Festival proved this year.
; Thursday afternoon the chill
dren from the rural and fifth and
sixth grades of the Model school
,, gave the first concert of the
series, singing "The Fairies Fes-
! tlval," by Seymour Smith. The
, solo and chorus work displayed
. the clear voices of the children
to best advantage. No loud
forced singing was evident, each
voice being light and airy.
The same evening the second
concert presented the solo ar
lists in Masses Marriage of
Jeanette This work is minia-
ture opera comique and was
thoroughly enjoyed by all. The
coloratura work of Miss Calesse
is far above the average and
both she and Mr.. Wilkie sang
with SO pure a diction that the
difficult English words were un-
derstood by all. A small chorus
entered at the finale and greatly
enhanced the picture. This Choir
us was composed of Misses Ann
Wallace, Alberta Allen, Martha
Smock and Christine McEwan,
in addition to Our own male
quartette, Messrs. Ray Foster.
Paul Rush, Sam Denny and Earl
Jackson.
Friday evening saw the closing
programs which was truly gala.
Miss Calesse sang a group of
songs, among them being Song
of the Robin Woman by Cad
man, which is one of the big
arias. Her voice is wonderfully
flexible and full of feeling.
Miss Telford and Mr.. Barnes
played the colossal two piano
number, Variations on a Theme
of Beethoven" by St. Saens. The
demands upon each pianiste are
tremendous and the reading of
the work showed a brilliant tech |
nical skill coupled with the soul
and fire of the real artist.
Mr.. Wilkie closed the first half |
of the program with a group of
songs Which displayed deep feel !
ing and voice control. Rose
White Youth" a little song by
Mr.. Barnes, gave him a vehicle |
for deep expression, but the little |
encore number, 80, Sole Milo" !
pleased the audience most.
The last half of the program
consisted of excerpts from Men
delssohn's Athalie. This master
work taxes the chorus, soloists
and orchestra to the fullest ex-
tent, to say nothing of the great j
demands made upon the dramat-
ic reader. The entire body was in !
accord. one with the other, and
the sacred tragedy of Athaliel
was unfo1ded to breathless andi
delighted audience. The chorus
sang with vigor and freshness, !
and Heaven and Earth Display"
rang out with all the conviction :
of the biblical crusaders in the, F.,
sacred battle.
Miss Telford accompanied ma
ny of the solo numbers and made
her instrument a real part of the
setting. The solo and duet num-
bers were especially beautiful,
particularly Depart Ye Sons of
Aaron" Miss Edna Smith de-
serves great credit for her force
full reading of the accompanying
dramatic poem. She made her
audience feel the awfulness of
" "Jezebel's Wrath" and artfully
led up to the tremendous and
victorious March of the Priests
Last, but not least, comes the
orchestra, which is Eastern's
own orchestra, just as the Choir
lis was her own chorus. This
group of talented young people
played like veterans, following
each stroke of the directors ba-1
ton with precision that display
ed real musicianship. Thru an
error the name of the pianiste,
which is truly the backbone of a.
small orchestra, was omitted
from the program. Miss Robbie
James gave to the utmost her
skill as a talented young pianiste.
The personnel of the orchestra is
as follows: Verlinda Deather-
age, Charles Lewis, 1st violin j
Garnet King. Sylvia Kidsgell and