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Trade Show Highlights AMC
Promotion
The Music Industry Trade Show, held
July 16 through 19 at the Palmer House
in Chicago, featured the up-to-date story
of AMC's outstanding success in stimu-
lating musical activities throughout the
country. Dr. John C. Kendel, AMC
vice-president, in a talk on "The Pro-
motion Outlook," reviewed the encour-
aging results in the development of
music programs in schools, churches,
recreation clubs and communities, and
urged the continued support of promo-
tion plans. Visitors to the AMC dis-
play of materials and accomplishments
were invited to discuss promotion ideas
with members of the field staff.
New Slide Film Completed
\^ ith a premiere showing at the Music
Industry Trade Show, the third AMC
color sound slide film, "Music in Our
School," was announced ready for use
by the industry. A potent aid to the
building of interest among youngsters
in school music activity, the film is
aimed at students in the sixth through
ninth grades. With 75 color scenes, the
film runs 15 minutes and is now avail-
able at cost, $15 per kit, to members
of the music trade associations. "Music
in Our School" is expected to dupli-
cate the remarkable success of the first
two AMC films, "Moving Ahead with
Music" and "You Can Make Music,"
which are in constant demand, and
which have been directly responsible
for expanded music programs in some
schools.
Piano Workshop Makes News
The interest of New Yorkers in piano
playing was stirred by a picture layout
"Piano Playing Can Be Fun!" which
appeared in the Journal-American re-
cently. Featuring Dr. Raymond Bur-
rows, the photo layout illustrated the
various steps in the new method of
teaching: hand-clapping for rhythm,
familiarization with notes and sound,
and actual keyboard work. As result
of AMC publicity in connection with
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, JULY, 1951
the class piano workshop held in New
York City under the sponsorship of
the local piano merchants, the news
picture-story effectively demonstrated
the merits of new teaching methods
and stimulated interest in school music
classes.
Stars Advocate School Music
it is predicted that when all bids are in,
the field men will have full schedules for
the summer. Of special note is the in-
creasing interest among recreation
clubs and 4-H groups, leading to steadily
growing numbers taking part in adult
music activities.
Journals Feature Music
Patrice Munsel, Metropolitan Opera
star, and Mary Pickford, famous motion
picture star and producer, were among
those questioned recently by the Chi-
cago Tribune "Inquiring Camera Girl"
on the subject of school music pro-
grams. The AMC-submitted question
was "Should every child have the op-
portunity to study voice or a musical
instrument in school?" All five persons
interviewed were definitely in favor of
the idea and several suggested regular
school periods for practice purposes in
addition.
AMC releases and features appeared
as two articles on the subject of music
in education appearing in Education
Neivs, which carried a long story on the
growing demand for American Music
Conference material; and in "The School
Executive." The latter magazine. May
issue, featured an article by-lined by
Dr. Hobart H. Sommers, assistant su-
perintendent of schools, Chicago, Illi-
nois. Dr. Sommers' "Music in the Mod-
ern School Program," was an illustrated
feature, reaching many school adminis-
trators. It was arranged by AMC.
Newspapers Feature AMC Material
Publicity Widely Used
Major articles, based on AMC, pub-
licity, appeared during June in news-
papers in Columbia (S.C.), Montreal,
Pittsburgh. New York and Chicago.
The wide range of acceptance of
AMC publicity material is evident in
the appearance of an article extolling
the virtues of musical activity for young-
sters in Hopalong Cassidy's daily news-
paper column, "Hoppy Talk." The col-
umn, which is syndicated by King Fea-
tures to hundreds of major newspapers,
was based on special material forwarded
by AMC. The Grand Rapids Herald,
Michigan, devoted nearly a page and a
half to a feature on adult music activity,
localizing an AMC release with names
and pictures of the town's citizens. The
Sentinel, a magazine distributed by vari-
ous savings banks to approximately
500,000 families in New York and New
England, carried a two-page story on
the same subject in the May issue, as
did The Home Office, employee house
organ of the Metropolitan Insurance
Company. The hous organ used company
employees to illustrate their topic,
which was "They Make Music for Fun."
Other articles continue to appear con-
sistently.
Field Men Plan Summer Activities
As a result of the Archdiocese of
Washington, D. C. Annual Teachers
Work Conference in March, when Edgar
Borup served as consultant, Monseig-
neur Spence is now planning to set up
a music conference and workshop to be
held in early September and conducted
by AMC. Borup also has been active
in completing plans for the June work-
shop at Jackson, Mississippi. His co-
operation with Mr. Ray Erlandson, pres-
ident of the National Association of
Music Merchants, will result in work-
shops in Texas during the summer
months. While out west, Borup will
confer with the music department of the
University of New Mexico at Albuquer-
que at the invitation of local music
dealers.
Borup, Egbert and Kalb will all con-
centrate on summer sessions in various
parts of the country. Requests for AMC
assistance have come from Michigan,
Kentucky, Maryland and Illinois, and
Scripts and Slidefilms
Gain in Favor
AMC's radio commentaries and home-
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