Ashburton Musical Club will celebrate 100 years of staging performances at a concert on Sunday.
President Janice Allen said the club was going strong, with about 110 members today.
She and vice president Ted Wood are among the longest serving members, having belonged for more than 30 years.
The former music teacher said the club had cultivated many a Mid Canterbury talent, by providing a platform for performance, and awarding scholarships.
‘‘Musical club has been a safe platform for many musicians over the years,’’ she said.
Ted said what audiences enjoyed today, was the same as what they enjoyed a century ago.
‘‘We provide music at our concerts that nobody else would provide in Ashburton,’’ Ted said.
While classical music was mostly played, today that genre sits alongside jazz and others. And vocalists will often sing popular numbers from modern musical theatre productions.
‘‘I like the humanity of it, you are going to get a performance on the spot, not a perfect performance on TV. You get the human element in the concert.’’
Many scholarship winners had taken their music to higher levels.
They included Olivia Pike, who had completed her first year studying opera at the Boston Conservatory, Joy Sun, who played the harp with the Shenyun Symphony Orchestra in New York, and Tainui Kuru, who was based in Canada and involved with musical theatre.
The 100 Year Celebration Concert on Sunday will be the sixth concert this year. It will feature many previous scholarship winners, including Paula Green (viola), Harvey Wood (trumpet), Caitlin Young and Emma Dyer (singing in a family group), Jan-Maree Baughan (vocalist), Sam Kuipers (piano), Katie Gluyas (piano), Eunseong Kim (trombone) and Deborah Sloper (piano accompanying a vocalist).
Janice said in the club’s early years, members had not only enjoyed listening to and playing music, but also studied the lives and works of the composers. And all concerts were held in the evening, where evening dress was mandatory for performers. This was long dresses and gloves for ladies,and evening suits and bow ties for gentlemen.
A group of piano teachers established the club to provide a performance platform for their pupils. Enthusiasm from many different musicians meant the club was extended to include other instrumentalists and vocalists.
A newspaper report of the time said the first meeting was ‘‘well atttended’’.
‘‘Ashburton teachers and students of music have discussed the formation of a musical club. The name Ashburton Musical Club was decided upon,’’ the report said.
