Grand Suburban Opera

"I believe in decentralization in everything--in government, in business and in art. That is, to my mind, the best solution or prescription for living conditions which we face in this age. It is too much to expect, in the rush and hurried life of today and the preoccupation which is attendant upon that life, that the bulk of the people who live in suburban communities will go home to dress after a busy day in New York and return again in the evening to attend concerts and operas and then rush off to make the last train home.

"If we make art accessible to the people, the people will go after art. The vast numbers of people who live in the suburbs should have art accessible to them. They are particularly responsive to it because they live in surroundings which stimulate peace of mind, and peace of mind is one of the essentials for the enjoyment of art. . . . People who live in congested centres and have to fight their way through traffic, watch in hand, and have to stop constantly for traffic signals, cannot have the state of mind and of soul which is the best preparation for the enjoyment of art. . . ."

For these, his own reasons, Board Chairman Otto Hermann Kahn announced last week plans to move cast, full orchestra, baggage and scenery of the Metropolitan Opera to Westchester County's new 1,000,000 recreation centre at White Plains, N. Y. on two Tuesday evenings next December. The projected move, direct fruit of Chairman Kahn's attendance at the centre's dedication in May, may result in a regular Westchester season. It was intimated that other suburban communities might be served by the Metropolitan when and if they become financially capable, theatrically equipped.

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