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Page Sixty-eight
l'HE MAROON TIGER
Glee Club And Orchestra Complete
Successful Tour of Florida
H. Eugene Finley, ’28
The Morehouse College Glee Club and Orches
tra returned to the campus March 6, 1927, after
having completed a two weeks tour of Florida
and points in Georgia. The above organization,
under the direction of Professor Kemper Harreld,
makes a tour of some southern state annually,
and this tour was the most successful of those
made during recent years.
Beginning the tour with a concert at Mt. Zion
Baptist Church in Griffin, Ga., February, 22, 1927
the organization rendered a very fine concert to a
very large audience. The next appearance was
made on February 23, at the City Hall Auditor
ium in Macon, Ga. On the morning of February
24, the organization arrived in Jacksonville, Fla.
In this metropolitan city of the “Land of Sun
shine” the organization received its most enthusi
astic reception. Two concerts were rendered, a
matinee at Stanton High School and an evening
performance at Bethel Baptist Institutional
Church. Every seat was taken at the evening
concert, and even though the Sunday school class
room behind the orchestra’s platform was packed,
dozens of people sat in the choir seats and stood
where allowed. When the closing number “More
house College” was sung the more or less melo
dious voices of L. Slater Bagnes, W. B. Scott, E.
A. Jones and Aurelius Scott were very prominent.
Three of the four men just named are members
of the class of 1926 who are making for them
selves very creditable reputations in Jacksonville.
After the concert the members of the Glee Club
and Orchestra were guests of the Greek letter
fraternities represented in Jacksonville. The af
fair was a brilliant reception held at the elabor
ate Chap-Kirk Tea Room.
From Jacksonville the rest of the Florida tour
was made in two spacious buses of the Florida
Mortor Line. February 25th, found the More
house representatives motoring to Palataka, Fla.
Arriving there in the early afternoon, the men
were first taken to the Central Academy Audi
torium. Now this town is the home town of your
correspondent and the Central Academy was the
scene of his early school days. Immediately aft
er their arrival there, the men became aware of
true Floridan hospitality radiating from every
source. The first bit was an impromptu choral
number by a well trained girl’s chorus under the
direction of Miss Thena Arnold, who is a recent
graduate of Clark University. The concert at
Bethel A. M. E. Church was nearly as well at
tended as the one given in Jacksonville on the
preceeding night. This audience boasted of a larg
er number of white people than any other dur
ing the entire trip. The next city was Gaines
ville, Fla. (the home of another member of the
orchestra, Mr. Kenneth Days), where concerts
were given February 26 and 27, at the Baird
Theatre.
From Gainesville the musicians were carried to
Sandford, Fla., where a packed auditorium, greet
ed them at Croom’s Academy. On the evenings
of February 28 and March 1, they appeared
at Curtright High School, Eustis, Florida and
March 2, Jones High School, Orlando, Florida.
In the latter city (which happens to claim Mr.
James Williams, manager of the Glee Club and
Orchestra, as a native son) the men were given
the privilege of plucking the various citrus fruits
from a well cultivated grove resplendent with
golden fruits. This proved quite a treat as many
of the men had never seen the delicious fruit
“in the making.”
The next appearance was made in Daytona
Beach, Fla., March 3, at the Bethune-Cookman
College, before a very appreciative audience.
President John Hope was among the pleased
members of this audience. The historic city of
St. Augustine, Fla., came next. In this city,
March 4, was rendered a matinee at Florida
Normal Collegiate Institute, and an evening con
cert at St. Paul A. M. E. Church. From the an
cient city the men travel via rail to Cordele, Ga.,
when the final concert of the tour was rendered
at the Court House, March 5.
While the tour was conducted for the major
purpose of rendering concerts it proved to be
quite educational in value, thanks to the several
motorcades afforded by various cities.
The following program was rendered on the
tour. Messrs Russel Brooks and James Wiliams
were alternating violin soloists and Mr. Kenneth
Days was alternating trumpet soloist:
Orchestra: March, George Drumm; Semirami-
die Overture, Rossini. Glee Club: “In the Time of
Roses,” Reichandt; “Coming Home,” Willeby;
“The Two Grenadiers,’ ’ Schumann. Trumpet:
“Killarney,” Irish Folk Song, Mr. Harold E. Fin
ley. Quartet: “A Little Close Harmony,” O’Hara.
Violin: “Nocturne, Chopin; Caprice, Mendelssohn,
Mr. Oliver Jackson. Orchestra: “Mid-Summer
Night’s Dream—Overture, Mendelssohn, Bari
tone: “Under the Roof, Rice, Mr. Howard Branch.
Violin: “Fantasia Caprice,” Vieux-Temps, Mr.
John Hervey Wheeler. Glee Club: “Kashmiri
Song,” Woodforde-Finder; “The Blizzard,” Cad-
man. Tenor: “I Hear You Singing,” Coates, Mr.
Levi Terrell. Quartet: “Lindy Lou,” Strickland.
Glee Club: “On the Road to Mandalay,” Speaks.
The veteran soloists Messrs Jackson, Branch,
Wheeler, Terrell and Finley proved that they
have lost none of their ability to earn encores
as was attested by the number each received
during the tour. The quartet lived up to the
praise given it by a recent writer in the MA
ROON TIGER. The quartet established a rec
ord of never failing to receive an encore and in
two cities it received more than three encores
for each number programed.
Accept these two figures as proof of the suc
cess of this tour: Total income $1,536.59; Net
income $464.00. Much praise is due the several
persons who aided in presenting this organiza
tion in the various cities, for it was they who
helped to arouse the public interest in this ca
pable group of musicians.