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MUSICAL MERCHANDISE
YEAR BOOK OF STATE AND NATIONAL
BAND AND ORCHESTRA CONTESTS
T H E 1931 yearbook of the State and Na-
tional School Band and Orchestra Contests
has just been issued by the National Bureau
for the Advancement of Music. These con-
tests are now being held in nearly all the
States, with the cooperation of the Bureau
and the Committee on Instrument Affairs
of the Music Supervisors National Confer-
ence. The committee draws up the rules,
compiles the list of test pieces, etc., while the
bureau assists with prizes and the general
administrative work.
Beginning in 1924 with five State contests
organized and a total of some thirty bands
entering, the work has now spread to forty
States, with a participation last spring of
about 9S0 bands and 650 orchestras, compris-
ing altogether over 70,000 young players. In
most cases the contests are under the auspices
of State universities, teachers' colleges, or
band and orchestra associations, but every-
where the objectives are the same, namely,
to develop high standards of musicianship
and equipment and to stimulate wider recog-
nition of school instrumental music among
educators and the public.
In furtherance of these objectives the
Committee on Instrumental Affairs has made
special efforts to render the list of test pieces
for the 1931 contests as well suited as might
be to the needs of many different classes of
instrumental organizations. Thus, the num-
bers required of entries in the national con-
tests are of considerable difficulty, since they
are intended only for the picked bands and
orchestras of the country. They include the
First Movement of Cesar Franck's Symphony
in D Minor and Schubert's Rosamunde Over-
ture for the orchestras, and for the bands
Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla (Wagner),
Knight Errant (O'Neill) and Prelude to
Faust (Gounod).
The next National High School Orchestra
Contest will take place in Cleveland, O.,
May 14-16, under the auspices of the School
of Education of Western Reserve University,
the Musical Arts Association, operating the
Cleveland Orchestra, and the public schools.
The band event will be held in Tulsa, Okla.,
where the public schools, which are sponsor-
ing it, will be assisted by Tulsa University,
the Chamber of Commerce, and various civic
groups.
There were forty-four bands at the na-
tional contest in Flint, Mich., last Spring.
The first winners in the various classes were:
Senn High School, Chicago, Class A; Hobart
High School, Hobart, Ind., Class B, and
Nicolet High School, West DePere, Wis.,
Class C. The winners in the orchestra con-
test, held in Lincoln, Neb., were: Lincoln
High School, Lincoln, Neb., Class A; Dear-
born High School, Dearborn, Mich., Class B,
and Stanhope (la.) High School, Class C.
MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY PLANS RADIO
LESSONS O N BAND INSTRUMENTS
T HE Michigan University of the Air will
offer five half-hour lessons in the playing
of all band instruments (except drums), be-
ginning Monday, February 16, at 2 o'clock
Eastern Standard Time, and continuing each
Monday at the same hour through March 16.
The lessons, broadcast over Station WJR,
Detroit, will be given by Dr. Joseph E.
Maddy, professor of music at the Univer-
sity of Michigan and conductor of the Na-
tional High School Orchestra.
Instruction "will be given each Monday
in the following instruments: Flute, piccolo,
clarinet, oboe, bassoon, saxophone, cornet,
trumpet, fluegel horn, mellophone, alto,
French horn, trombone, baritone, euphonium,
tuber and sousaphone. The course is intended
for school students and adults who have had
no previous instruction and is offered at the
urgent request of school superintendents in
small communities where the services of
band instructors are not available.
The course is especially planned to pro-
vide instruction for groups of school chil-
dren from the fourth grade through high
school. School superintendents or principals de-
siring to utilize this opportunity are urged to
plan the work in advance by seeking out
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
interested students and forming groups to
receive the instruction under the supervision
of local music or grade teachers.
The course is planned to advance the stu-
dents to a point where they may continue as
a school band without further specialized in-
struction. All the student needs is an instru-
ment in playing condition and music for the
lessons. The printed lesson pamphlet con-
taining the music may be had free from the
Michigan University of the Air, Ann Arbor,
or the State Department of Public Instruc-
tion, Lansing.
This is the first time radio instruction in
the-playing of band instruments has ever
been offered.
SELMER CANADIAN CORP.
IN LARGER QUARTERS
The Canadian business of Henri Selmer
& Co., makers of the Selmer reed instru-
ments, known in the United States as H. &
A. Selmer, has increased so that they now
have enlarged their quarters. The new
Canadian address is 10 Shuter street, To-
ronto, just off Yonge street.
The Selmer Canadian Corp., formed in
February, 1931
1929, is sole distributor for Selmer instru-
ments in the Dominion. A. B. Cruchet is
the managing director and a large stock
of instruments and accessories is carried, and
a complete repair department. Mr. Cruchet
is well known in Canadian trade and will
devote his entire time to the development of
the business there.
George M. Bundy, who makes his head-
quarters at H. & A. Selmer's plant in Elk-
hart, Ind., is also president of the Canadian
house.
NATIONAL CONTEST
FOR BANJO BANDS
The second annual National Contest for
Banjo Bands and other fretted instrument
organizations will be held in the Convention
Hall, Rochester, N. Y., on April 24 and 25,
and as evidence of the interest in the affair
shown by banjo and fretted instrument
organizations, it is reported that even at this
early date over a dozen bands in New York
and neighboring States have filed their
entries.
The first contest held last year under the
direction of Don Santos served to attract
wide attention and was regarded as of ines-
timable value in drawing public attention to
fretted instrument music and its possibility.
Mr. Santos has planned an even more elab-
orate program this year, including the ap-
pearance of some prominent artists including
Fred Bacon, the noted banjoist; Jack Rose,
famous guitarist; W. B. McMichael, W. J.
Jeffery and many others. In addition a num-
ber of the leading manufacturers of fretted
instruments, including the Bacon Banjo Co.,
Gibson, Inc., and the Vega Co., will have
elaborate exhibits.
The closing date for contest entries is set
for March 15 and for exhibit entries March 1.
HOLTON INTRODUCES
NEW SAXOPHONE
Frank Holton & Co., band instrument
manufacturers of Elkhorn, Wis., have an-
nounced a new saxophone to be known as
"The New Revelation" and offered at a
lower price. It is regarded as the successor
of the company's Rudy Wiedoeft model. In-
cidentally the company has revised down-
ward its prices on its entire line of Revela-
tion band instruments.
E. J. DELANO RETURNS
TO SHERMAN, CLAY & CO.
E. J. Delano, for many years connected
with the musical merchandise department of
Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco, and
more recently with the Wurlitzer Co., has
returned to the former concern.
George C. Wille Co., one of the oldest
music houses in Canton, O., has opened a
new musical merchandise department under
the supervision of E. Gottlieb, formerly with
the D. W. Lerch Piano Co.
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