Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-23
NEWS OF MUSIC
BY IRVING LowENs

"They don't teach you how
D become an impresario in
college," smiled Patrick Hayes,
who this year celebrates his
10th anniversary as an indie
pendent concert middle man
in the Nations Capital.
"That's the kind of game
you just fall into by accident"
Mr.. Hayes wanted to be a
lawyer.
"When I got out of school
Harvard '29, the depression
class-my first job was in a
New York bank doing credit
investigating. Then the roof
fell in. The bank closed and /
was on the street with lot
of other folks, looking for a
way to turn an honest dollar"
AS all who lived through the
l930s will remember, those
were rough days. Mr.. Hayes
finally landed a job as a head
waiter in a Schrafft's Restaur-
ant. Later on, he worked out a
cafe act with which he went
on the radio and on the stage.
He began to meet people in the
entertainment world.
Il had always liked music
led the freshman glee club
in college-but my real intro
duction to the world of serious
music came from my wife. AS
a concert pianist, Mrs. Hayes
necessarily rubbed elbows
with other artists and con-
cert managers. and so did 1.
1T was a big day in my
life when I was taken on by
Civic Concerts Service as a
road man. That was in 1888.
I travelled around to different
cities, set up bookings, did
advance work for artists who
were TO appear, and things
like that"
Succeeded Capped in 1910
At that time, Washington
was no more than another
place on the map to Mr..
Hayes. Then fate stepped in.
In December, 1910. he hap
pened to see a squib in the
New York Times to the effect
that c. c. Capped. manager
of the National Symphony Or
chestra, had resigned. Taking
a flyer, he wrote to DR.. Hans
Kinder applying for the po-
Sition. There were a series
of hurried interviews. and to
his surprise, he got the Job.
Since January of 1941-ex-
cept for a three-year hitch in
the @Navy-genial, knowledge
able Pat Hayes has remained
an important feature of
Washington's cultural land
Scape.
Mr.. Hayes set up in bust
ness for himself not very long
after he re-entered civilian
life.
"A friend Of mine pointed
out that Washington seemed
to be an ideal spot for a con-
cert impresario, what with its
steady growth, its truly cos
mopolitan population, and its
hunger for good music. 1
agreed. On November l, 1916,
the Hayes Concert Bureau
was formally organized, and /
was on my way.
Too Much Success at First
What happened then was
just about the worst thing that
could happen to an impresario
just learning the ropes. 1 had
a brilliant series of successes.
Tagliavini, Fred Waring, Paul
Whiteman, Melchior - every
thing I touched seemed to be
a smash hit. I wondered why
I hadn't gotten into this thing
before.
"Overconfident, I then
booked everything - and fell
fiat on my face with just as
many financial flopS."
Since those years of BOOM
or-bust, Mr.. Hayes has come
a long way, and the bookings
for his Tenth Anniversary Sea-
son, set to begin on October 7
at Constitution Hall with the
Berlin Philharmonic Orches-
ira under the baton of Herbert
Won Karajan, are solid fare,
comparing favorably with
those in any other American
city.
Much Variety Offered
The Hayes offerings are ar
ranged in two series of 10 each
GA and b. Leading off each
series are concerts by the Ber-
lin Philharmonic. Also on each
series will be concerts by the
Vienna Philharmonic Orches-
ira, one conducted by Andre
Cluytens, and the other by
Carl Schuricht. Among the
symphonies to be presented by
the visitors from Vienna are
the Brahms Fourth and the
Bruckner Seventh.