Orgy

An international orchestral orgy, a festival with virtuosi and orchestras from 50 countries, from Asia to the Argentine, with programs telling the history of music from Palestrina to Gershwin, began last week to loom as the major event of Manhattan's 1030-31 concert season.

Father of the idea is Frederick N. Sard, executive director of the Schubert Centennial (1928) and the Beethoven Centennial (1927). Touring Europe to enlist help. Organizer Sard broke the news last week in Vienna. He announced as a prominent cooperator Count di San Martino. president of the Augusteo Orchestra and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, who will head the European delegations. Another noble cooperator, the Marquis Tokugawa of Japan, will chairman a Far Eastern Committee. Music Patrons Otto Hermann Kahn and George Eastman will serve on the U. S. board. In conjunction with the festival a technical exposition will be held for manufacturers of instruments, records, talking films.