Evening star., 1952-06-15
News of Music:

Germany, will be linked in a spe-
cial way this coming week end.
At that time, Howard Mitchell,
conductor of the National SYM
phony orchestra, will act as one
OF the judges in the finals of the
Meisterslnger contest. held under
the auspices of the German
Youth Activities section of the
Nurnberg Military Post. In a
modern guise and under the spon-
sorship of Americans, the famous
contests, originated in the 18th
century. are being revived. DR..
Mitchell. presumably the first
American musician to travel over
for these events, was invited to
participate by General Thomas T..
Handy, Commanding General of
the European Command.
Ten singers will be judged next
Sunday following elimination
additions on Friday and Satur-
day. The semif1nals will be
thorough. Thirty participants
will be heard on Friday and 20I
of these will be chosen for a sec
ond hearing on Saturday. From
this last addition, 10 will be Sc
1ected for the final choice onE
Sunday when DR.. Mitchell will
be a judge. The additions are
open to the public, the last TAX
ing place in the Nurnberg Opera
House. So great has been the in
terest in the final event each pre-
ceding year since the contest was
revived that standing room only"
has been the rule.
Although organized by the
Nurnberg Military Post, the con-
test has been kept strictly for
German youth. German business
men were enlisted to support the
movement and this year, their
contribution financially amounts
to $4,000. Part of this money
will 60 for scholarships for the
three winners among the final
ten, with each of the remaining
seven rewarded financially in a
smaller way.
Started in l949
The idea of reviving the famed
Meistersinger contests was con-
ceived in 1949 by the Nurnberg
Post GYA Office. Various people
OF prominence as we'll as musi-
Clans, were asked to serve as
members of working committee.
The plan spread to other GYA
posts which in turn, set up COM
mittees. The success of the first
contest in 1850 was so great that
1t was decided to sponsor it for
mally as part of the GYA pro-
gram. There are 102 GYA centers
IN Germany and, among the 8O0,-
900 young people who attend,
many concentrate on music. Three
hundred German workers are en-
ployed full time and are assisted
by 1000 German and American
volunteers.
The cooperation of interested
persons in Berlin, Frankfurt,
Heidelberg, Munich, Stuttgart,
Garmisch and other cities discov-
cred many willing to donate prizes.
Some of these were merchandise.
very acceptable right now, but
others ranged in monetary value
from so to $50 marks. In 1851,
S6 singers were selected from the
entire United States zone by a
mixed committee of Germans and
Americans. Again 10 were chosen
for the final competitions in the
Opera House.
Fox Movietone News and "Welt
In Film" made pictures of the
program. German radio stations
and AIN recorded the finals and
broadcast them while German
newspapers covered every angle
of the event. Gen. Handy, and
Mrs. Handy were in the audience
at the Opera House. They, to-
gether with the United States
High Commissioner John j. Nc
Cloy and Mrs. McCloy, and Bundles
president, Prof. Theodor Heuss,
acted as honorary co-sponsors of
the contest. The commissioner
and the Bundles president, unable
to be present, sent their congratu-
lations.
S-Minute Limit
The military subpost contests
were completed this year by May
A and those Of the military posts
by June i. Each selected three
singers to represent the posts. The
contest was limited to German
and DIP amateur singers residing
In the United States zone between
the ages of 18 and Is. No restric-
tion was placed on the type of
musical selection to be used or the
number, provided 8 minutes was
not exceeded. The Nuremberg
military most was eve,, reodv RI