Show THE THOMAS CONCERTS III The Coming Grand Musioal Treat The following extract will be found to contain some information of interest regarding the coming i grand Thomas orchestral concerts which are present a topic eral interest In another month the Thomas musical Festival will be upon us and if the signs are not deceptive it will find San Francisco thoroughly prepared to do it justice both in the musical support it will receive from our chorus and in the more solid engagement that will be contributed by the lovers of good music who will fill the pavilliou the grand tour of the Thomas orchestra or-chestra began at Baltimore with a great success as has been already announced IP this city a guarantee fund of 0000 was raised and a like amount was secured at Pittsburg from which the orchestra went to Bradford and Buffalo i Next week festivals will beheld be-held at Cleveland Columbus and I Louisville Then come Memphis and Nashville festivals and the special performance of Gounods ittidempuon at Cincinnati The orchestra thence goes to St Louis for three days and then to Kansas City for a like period Then Keokuk Ceuar Rapids St Paul and Minneapolis Min-neapolis are visited in order Then the orchestra will start for this city stopping only once to give a single concert The orchestra will leave San Francisco June 13th for Salt Lake City where three concerts will be given in the Tabernacle and will thence go to Denver The list of members of the orchestra or-chestra shows how much we do depend de-pend on Germany for our best music Among the sixty musicians there are only four who do not bear German Ger-man names Mr Thomas is himself him-self a German having been born in Hanover Germany in 1835 He belonged I be-longed to a family of musicians his father being a distinguished performer per-former on the violin At an early age his father gave him musical instruction in-struction and when he was six years old he appeared on the concert stage and attracted much attention Hecame to this country with ins parents in 1845 and often appeared in New York as a solo violinist He soon became distinguished as a mu cician and above all as a player of classical music The symphony concerts inaugurated by him in I 1804 mark the beginning of a newI I era in music in this country From loTi to 1878 these concerts were successful suc-cessful in every point of view and iu the latter year he was cho3eu director of the Cincinnati College of Music which resulted from the musical mu-sical festivals held by him in that city But Mr Thomas as is well known could not have art bouifd by ruleo that prevantpri its dpvplou mentand in 1880 he resigned his position pos-ition in order that he might realize his highest at tistic aspirations He visited Earope where he was received re-ceived as a brother by all of the tile most distinguished musicians musi-cians and then returned to resume I the work to which he has given his life The present undertaking is the result of the constant calls made upon him from all parts of the country where it is desired to hear the great masters interpreted I by the foremost musician in America Amer-ica Mr Thomas has secured the best material for his orchestia by paying the highest salaries and by relieving his musicians from all work except that for which they are onrYoryon I Ot 6a the > soloists who accompany I the orchestrathe most distinguished is Miss Emma JChursby who is famous both in this country and in Europe as one of the greatest of concert singers She was born in I Brooklyn N Y She studied under Julius Meyer a pupil of Mendelssohn Mendels-sohn and afterward had as teacher Achille Ernani a follower of Vac cai Lamperti San Giovanni and Madame Rudersdorff She first appeared ap-peared as a singer a church choir and was there discovered by Maurice Mau-rice Strakosch who brought her forth upon the concert stage From l > er first appearance her success was assured and at all the capitals of Europe she has received praise not I less sincere than that accorded by her countrymen The other sopranos are Mrs Hum phreyAllen and Mrs NortprHart degen The tormer is claimed by New England and the latter by Cincinnati Mrs Allen has won a brilliant reputation as an interpreter inter-preter of Berlioz Marguerite and she has also triumphed in such great classical works as Messiah Elijah and The Creation Mrs Hartdegen as Miss Annie Norton won fame at her first appearance in the Thomas festivals in Cincinnati Chicago New York and Brooklyn L Mrs Belle Cole is the contralto socialist I so-cialist and is well known in the musical mus-ical world of New York Philadelphia Philadel-phia Baltimore and other eastern cities She is distinguished as one of the greatest interpreters of sacred music that this country has produced pro-duced Frederick Harvey the tenor solo ist is an American who has sung with Campanni at Cincinnati and who held his own with that great Italian The basso soloist is Franz Remin ertz He is the only foreigner among the corps of singers being born at Dusseldorf He has been in the country since 18G9 and is inter known as one of the greatest preters of Wagner under whose baton he has sung The piano soloist Madame Julie Kive King has been here so recently and is so well and favorably known that nothing need be said concerning concern-ing her ability as an artist |