Presto

April, 1930
P R E S T O-TI M E S
BANDMASTERS' CONVENTION A GREAT
SUCCESS
19
MAJESTIC EXPLOITED
THROUGHOUT CANADA
Walter Kiehn, on Visit to Chicago, Tells of
Merchandising Caravan from
Coast to Coast.
SOME OK THIv .LEADERS AT THE A.UEHKAA
Front row (left to right): A. AUSTIN HARDING,
Treasurer, Director of Bands, University of Illinois, Ur-
bana. 111.; VICTOR GRABEL, Secretary, Grabel's Chicago
Band; HENRY FILLMORE, Fillmore's Band, Cincinnati.
Ohio; JAMES BOYEIt (Conn Company), Elkhart. Ind.,
LIEUT. .T. J. OAGNIER, Canadian Grenadier Guards.
Montreal, Que.; LIEUT. PHILIP EGNER, Director of
Music. U. S. Military Academy, West Point; EDWIN
FRANKO GOLDMAN. President, Goldman's Band, New
York City; JOHN PHILIP SOUSA, Honorary Life Presi-
dent, Sousa's Band; CAPT. CHARLES O'NIEL, Vice-
President, 22nd Royal Canadian Regiment, Quebec, Can.;
SAM TUKALOR, Butte Mines Band, Butte, Mont.; CAPT.
R. B. HAYWARD, Director, Toronto Concert Band, To-
ronto, Canada; ALBERTUS MEYERS. The Allentown
Band, Allentown, Pa.; KUGEXE LA BARRE, Detroit,
Mich.
HANJJAi AS TEHti ASSOCIATION ('UN VENT1ON.
Back row (left to right): SAM HARRIS, Boston, Mass.;
KARL SHINKMAN (York Band Instrument Co.), Grand
Rapids. Mich.; PETER BUYS, Hagerstown Municipal
Band, Hagerstown, Md.; HARRY J. CHARLTON (Holton
Co.). Elkhorn, Wis.; C. D. PIERCE (Lyon & Healy Co.).
Chicago, 111.; LIEUT. CHAS. BENTER, U. S. Navy Band,
Washing-ton, D. C.; KARL KING. Fort Dodge Municipal
Band, Fort Dodge, Iowa; RICHARD J. DUNN, Texas
A. & M. College Band, College Station, Texas; GEORGE
FREY, Philadelphia Concert Band, Philadelphia. Pa.; ER-
NEST N. GLOVER, Assistant Conductor, Armco Concert
Band, Middletown, Ohio; FRANK SIMON, Director-Con-
ductor of Armco Concert Band, who were the hosts of
convention; WALTER SMITH, Walter Smith's Band,
Boston, Mass.; EVERETT McCRACKEN, Baylor Univer-
sity Band, Waco, Texas.
The first annual convention of the American Band-
masters' Association, which was held at Middletown,
Ohio, on March 13, 14, 15 and 16, proved to be a
tremendous success from every standpoint. For the
first time in the history of continental musical organi-
zations, representative bandmasters of Canada and
the United States have pooled their common interests,
established a code of ethics and visualized a goal
toward which, all may strive.
Edwin Franko Goldman, of New York, president
of the association, in his opening speech said: "We
must make every attempt to govern the ethics of our
profession." In his remarks regarding membership
Mr. Goldman said, "Any bandmaster who is worthy
of this organization is welcome, for we do not want
to keep out good men; we want to get them in."
Karl King, director of the Municipal Band of Fort
Dodge, Iowa, made a very interesting talk on "How
to Secure Financial Support for Municipal Bands."
He spoke in glowing terms about "That Grand Old
Man, Major Landers," who introduced the Iowa band
law, since which time similar laws have been adopted
in twenty-eight states.
Victor J. Grabel, secretary of the association, then
read an excellent paper on "Revising Published Band
Arrangements." Remarks following Mr. Grabel's
paper brought out the facts that bad band arrange-
ments have done as much harm as the bad bands.
Lieut. Commander John Philip Sousa gave a splen-
did paper on "The Orchestra and Band as They
Originally Existed." In his remarks following the
paper Mr. Sousa said "Our object is to bring about a
uniformity for a band. We lead in a great number
of things in this country and if we can lead in present-
ing the world with instrumentations we know are the
proper kind it will be worth while. Publishers will
have to help us in this respect."
There were banquets, speeches, entertainments of
various kinds, concerts, presentations of medals and
the presentation of a check for $1,000 in the hands of
the association treasurer, A. Austin Harding. This
check represented the proceeds of the great concert
held in connection with the convention and is
to be awarded to the person who writes the best com-
position for the concert band during the ensuing
year.
All the incumbent officers were re-elected for the
ensuing year.
Butte, Mont., and Allentown, Pa., are competing
for the next annual convention.
HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRAS
TO CONTEST AT LINCOLN
tary of the committee. The prizes are furnished by
the National Bureau, through funds contributed by
the Musical Merchandise Association.
Rules for the Contest Are Made by a Committee of
the Supervisors' Conference.
Announcement has been made by C. M. Tremaine,
director of the National Bureau for the Advancement
of Music, that arrangements are now complete for
holding the National High School Orchestra Contest
of 1930 in Lincoln, Neb., May 29-31. The participants
will be the first and second winners in the various
classes of the state contests and therefore the picked
school orchestras of the country.
State school orchestra contests in which the bureau
co-operated were held in thirty states last year, as
follows: Arizona. Eastern Colorado, Florida, Idaho,
Illinois. Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mon-
tana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York. North Carolina, North Dakota,
Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Ten-
nessee, Utah, Vermont, and the New England Sec-
tion.
There were some 500 orchestras entered in these
different events, fourteen of the winners going on to
the National in Iowa City, Iowa. Seven or eight new
states will be added to the list this year, including
Alabama, western Colorado, Pennsylvania, northern
Michigan, Rhode Island, Texas, and western Wash-
ington. These, with the normal increase to be ex-
pected in each state, will probably bring up the total
entries to between 600 and 700, with a membership
of some 30,000 children or more,
In most cases the state meets are held under aus-
pices of colleges, universities and teachers' associations.
Rules for the National are made by the Committee
on Instrumental Affairs of the Music Supervisors'
National Conference, Mr. Tremaine acting as secre-
BAND NEWS
Elmer Boone is director of the Whiteland Boys'
Band, recently reorganized at Whiteland, Ind.
Middlesboro, Ky., has a school band under the in-
struction of Prof. L. R. Carey, of the Cincinnati Con-
servatory of Music.
W. V. Arnold has organized a school band at La-
fayette, Ind.
The Marion Concert Band at Marion, 111., is being
reorganized.
The Dixon Boys Band, Dixon, 111., is raising funds
for a big season. The band, which consists of 35
pieces, practiced regularly throughout the winter
months.
ANNOUNCEMENT.
Marietta, Ohio,
April 1, 1930.
We are announcing a song contest for the purpose
of finding' a new set of words of international theme,
to a local historical melody. No cash prizes will be
given, but the one whose manuscript is selected as the
most suitable will receive a contract calling for royalty
on sheet music, records and rolls. A professional
copy of the local song will be sent to all who send
a self-addressed and stamped envelope. The new song
will be published as a fox-trot in September or Octo-
ber. The contest is open to all and closes midnight,
July 31st.
Yours very truly,
LEE ICE MUSIC COMPANY.
By Lee Ice.
In design, the modern violin follows in close detail
the lines and proportions of instruments made and
used by the old Italian masters.
Walter Kiehn, now with the Rogers-Majestic Corp.,
Ltd., Toronto, Canada, was in Chicago in the latter
part of last month, spending a few days among old
friends and former business associates. He said he
is very much pleased with his work and with the way
business is done in Canada. The piano trade is some-
what more active in Canada at the present time than
in the United States, while the radio business is con-
siderably better.
Canadian firms had done some cleaning out to get
down to bed rock, and now trade in radio is quite
satisfactory, although it took hard work to make
sales, as competition is very keen.
Mr. Kiehn spoke of the recent intensive and exten-
sive tour of Canada from coast to coast carried out
by his house and which he denominated a "merchan-
dising caravan." On this tour many orders were
taken. Full sets of radios were sent on by express
ahead of the exhibitors and set up ready to demon-
strate when the men from Toronto arrived in each
city. The men took many orders for Rogers and
for Majestic radios. The company has the sole agency
for the Majestic in Canada, and is doing a fair busi-
ness in that line, notwithstanding the high tariff of
40 per cent on the goods.
In the course of this tour, new models of the
Rogers-Majestic radio were shown in a score of cities,
and new merchandising plans were revealed. At the
same time, an announcement was made to the trade
of a very important move, that is, the linking of the
Rogers and Majestic names into one complete line of
radio receivers hereafter to be known in Canada as
the "Rogers-Majestic." There are twelve models
available—4 Lowboys, 3 Highboys, 1 Console, 1 Period
Model, and 4 Combinations, all under the unified name
of "Rogers-Majestic." The new name symbolizes all
the advantages of the laboratories, merchandizing and
advertising of the Majestic "Mighty Monarch of the
Air" and the Rogers Batteryless radio with its fwe
years of proven performance in Canada.
The Rogers-Majestic Trans-Canada Caravan con-
ferences were held in Windsor, London, Toronto,
Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton,
Saskatoon, Regina, Fort William, Quebec City, Saint
John and Halifax.
The three Rogers-Majestic representatives who
made the tour were B. A. Trestrail, vice-president;
Walter Kiehn, director of advertising and sales pro-
motion, and W. R. Currie, field sales manager. At
each point of the caravan the actual models were
shown, and very elaborate plans of selling them were
gone into in full detail. In a number of cases, radio
programs were broadcast spreading the news of the
Rogers-Majestic move to the public. The dealers and
salesmen in each case were guests of the company at
a dinner, and more than 1,500 men engaged in the
retailing of radios /were thus contacted.
OPPOSES ADOPTION OF
"STAR SPANGLED BANNER"
The music teachers who assembled at Chicago in
attendance at the Music Supervisors' National Con-
ference, reconvened on Saturday, March 29, to take
care of a piece of work that they felt had been over-
looked at the convention proper. This was to protest
a possible passage by congress of a bill making "The
Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the
United States.
The supervisors contended that the song is largely
the reflection of a single wartime event which can-
not fully reflect the spirit of a nation committed to
peace and good will. They declared also that the
song is too difficult for frequent singing in the school
rooms or other assemblages where the national an
them is needed. ••
"While recognizing the legitimate place of 'The
Star Spangled Banner' as one of our historic patriotic
songs," the resolution concluded, "the conference
vigorously opposes its adoption as our national
anthem."
The resolution is to be sent to congress by Mabell
Glenn, Kansas City, retiring president.
MANAGERS MADE EASTERN TRIP.
H. R. Valentine, vice-president of Lyon & Healy,
Cleveland, and G. S. McLaughlin, manager of the
piano division of Lyon & Healy, Chicago, have been
visiting the Steinway, Brambach and Aeolian sales-
rooms and factories. They made purchases for their
fall business which they expect to be larger than for
many years.
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