I HAVE been commissioned by the Ida Carroll Trust to write a biography of the distinguished Carroll family of Manchester.

Walter Carroll (1869-1955) was Manchester's first-ever Musical Adviser, and formed the Manchester Schoolchildren's Choir that made the famous 78 recording of Nymphs and Shepherds with the Halle Orchestra in 1929. Walter Carroll is still known today world-wide for his unique and best-selling series of piano compositions for children, beginning with Scenes at a Farm (1912).

His second daughter Ida Carroll was Principal of the Northern School of Music from 1958, to the time of its amalgamation in 1972 with the Royal Manchester College of Music, to become the present Royal Northern College of Music.

Walter's elder daughter Elsa worked in senior positions for the Northern Universities' Joint Matriculation Board for most of her professional life.

If any of your readers, whom I haven't already interviewed, can provide me with memories of Walter Carroll, his wife Gertrude, or either of his daughters or any of their close friends, I would be very grateful to receive a phone call or fax (0161 445 6650), an e-mail (Basil Howitt@compuserve.com), or a letter (21 Mauldeth Road West, Manchester M20 3EQ).

Basil Howitt

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