Music Trade Review

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VOL. LXXVII. No.2. Pablished Every Salarday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 383 Madison Ave., New York,
N.Y. J,,)y 14.1923
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Sing1e C opies 10 Cf" utl!i
$2,00 Per Year
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A Nalional Competition for Student-Pianists
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HE suggest ion advanced ret,eJ~tJy by 'l'h e Revi ew to the effect that a competition f o r student-piani sts
,M high a nd grad ed schools \\ihi ch grant credits f o r musi c study be h eld in New
Yo rk ,during th e 192-1- cOl1\'ention h~ s m et w i~h the unqualifi ed and, enthusiastic a~)prova l of, t~ e tra~le,
S~ores of letters have been r ecel\red a t thiS office from th e officlals of the varIOUS assoClatlOns, 111­
cluding piano 111an uf act llrers, l1iLlSic m erchants, tuners, etc" and in eve ry case the writers test ify to the fea si­
bilit y of th e id.ea and to th e benefits tha t th e trade might expect fro m th e contest itself and from the publicity
attending- it,
l \S a ma tte r of fact, seve ral w rite r s h ave expressed the opinion that th e scope of the competition might
he C'xtended ill yarious ways to take in stud en ts in conservatories, and in fact all student-pianists, so that the
l1H)\l' lllent mig'ht r each the greatest numb er a nd thereby a ccompli sh th e greatest good.
'l'he idea of awa rding sch olarships to wo rthy students of the piano is not a n ew one n or is the plan of
g iving- pianos as prizes to the bes t students an o riginal one, but all such awards have been mad e in local com­
petition and th e expe ri ence in connecti on "v ith th ese ha s proven their f easibility , The m ovement to place t h.
competition on a n a ti onal and perhaps permanent bas is, therefore, h as precedent back of it and th e on ly problem
is that of interes ting students and music love r s throughout the nation a nd g iv ing- the plan th e n ecessa ry pub
li city w hich it d ese rves,
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One member of the trad e, Col. F, B. T. H ollenbe rg, is of the op1l11On that leading conservator ies Jllay
he expected to r ecogni ze th e importance of th e m ovem e nt to the ext ent of providing free tuiti on ove r stated
periods for fro111 on e to a ,half d6zen of the prize-winning stt1d en ts w ith th e piano m a nufactur ers and m e r­
chants rai s ing- a fund to pay the expen ses of th e competition in Kew York and of the students during the
pe ri od of their sch olarsbip:;,
The main idea i's of cour se to enco urage schools in granting cr edit s for mu s ic stud y, and particularly
piano :;tudy , During the past few yea r s the numbe r of schools t hroug ho ut the country g ranting s uch credits,
largely throu g-h the effo rt s of the m emb ers of the music trad e and profession, has been steadily on the increase,
and it is held, and p r ope rly, that such interest shown b y the schools h as a direc t bearing on th e increase i:.
music in teres t on th e part of the students,
J t has been demon strated that whenever a student becomes actively interest ed in th e stud y of the piano
t he illterest of t h e parents is a lso aroused and a direct channel for f uture sales of pianos and musi cal instru­
m ent s of all kinds is c reated, In citi es where mu s ic credits prevail ther e is a nota hle increase in the interest
Sh O\\, 11 by yo ung peop'le ill sy mphony concerts a nd other rnusi cal affairs,
c\fter a stud y of the situation and the op inions of the lead ing m emb er s of the indu stry it is hoped that
ill the vc r y nea r f uture a defi nite plan for the fir st annual piano competition wi ll he put in shape for presenta­
tion to the induslry,
;\1 eallwhilc, the respon se of the t rade proves that The R e\' iew 's plan is considered well worthy of serious
t ho ug h t and attenti on , There a re a sufficient number of organi zed ag'encies already ill th e trad e both in the asso­
ciat ion and the C ha mbe r of Commerce to carryon the movement, handl e t h e details, w hich sho uld not prove
tro'lbleso11le in th e last a nal ys is , and see to it that th e cO lllpetiti on r ecei,'es th e proper a mount of publicity direct
fr01l1 head U nqu est ionabl y such a contest wo uld arouse interest throug ho ut the nation and concent rate attent ion on
t h e piano a s th e bas ic lllu sical instrum ent in th e development of ;\111 e rica 's musical cul ture a nd in inc r easing the
nU111 be r of those w h o play it.
Next week the r e will be publi shed anoth e j' series of lett e rs from prominen t trade m emh e r s setting forth
their ideas as to the practicability of th e plan and the manner of its ca rrying out.
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confin~d to st ud ents