THE BATTLEFORDS — Speech arts are an interesting category within vocal entry options for music festivals. Speech arts are an opportunity to dynamically express poetry or prose and storytelling. Speech arts can be performed as solos or in groups (choral speech). As part of a booster program being offered by the Battlefords Music Festival Committee, a vocal arts expert is being brought in by local music teacher Lisa Hornung to “boost” learning for students in speech arts, singing, and presentation of musical theatre. Though Hornung calls North Battleford home, she enjoys a singing career, as a contralto, that has taken her across Canada, the United States and Europe. Hornung is always pleased to perform with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra with whom she has sung for over 30 years. She is well known as a performer, teacher, adjudicator, clinician, and choral coach. She is passionate about education and dedicated to inspiring seasoned teachers and mentoring young educators. In October of 2017, Hornung was presented with the Saskatchewan Music Educators Association’s Outstanding Achievement Award, and in July 2019 the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association’s Adjudicating Excellence Award.
The vocal discipline specialist being hosted in this booster program experience is Heather McNab. McNab lives in Maple Creek where she has a private studio for voice, speech, and piano students. She is a member of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers' Association. She has directed 20 seasons of youth musicals in Maple Creek with shows including Anne of Green Gables, HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Seussical and Les Miserables School Edition. McNab has been bringing her expertise into schools around the province for several years, often hired by the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association to promote speech arts participation. Battlefords area students will enjoy workshops with her that are engaging, entertaining, and inspiring.
In addition to teaching, McNab is a singer, speech artist, accompanist, adjudicator, clinician and church musician. She holds Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) diplomas in singing, piano and speech arts and drama. She won the gold medal for her speech arts and drama performers ARCT, signifying the highest mark in Canada. She has been on stage with the Medicine Hat Musical Theatre as Mrs. Tottendale in The Drowsy Chaperone and as Mother Abbess in the Sound of Music and has been a part of the Calgary Opera Chorus in Eugene Onegin, Otello, Aida, Lucia Di Lammermoor, The Inventor, The Flying Dutchman, and La Boheme. Battlefords area audiences may remember her 2021 performance of the one-woman show “Shirley Valentine” when it was hosted by the Battlefords Community Players.
For local folks wanting to show support for the festival, there are a variety of options. Businesses or individuals may wish to sponsor a session or award. Volunteer opportunities come in all sizes. For folks with more complicated schedules, volunteering might be in the form of making phone calls or running errands. For folks with less complicated scheduled, volunteering might involve being a greeter outside of sessions during the festival or being a secretary for the adjudicator. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and see where your time, skills, or resources might be of most help. Correspondence can be directed by email to the Committee secretary Amy Francais [email protected] or to P.O. Box 1301, North Battleford, SK, S9A 3L8.
“Listening is more important than anything else because that's what music is. Somebody is playing something and you're receiving it. It is sending and receiving.” - Carla Bley, an American jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader (1936 - 2023)
