Throughout December鈥檚 holiday season in the Battlefords area, we were treated to musical performances by local youth talent from school concerts to churches to the Dekker Centre stage.
With the upcoming 2017 Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival, you can look forward to hearing many of those youth showcase their talents and skills again. Interested participants should already be making entry selections as the deadline is quickly approaching.
The deadline for entries is Saturday, Jan. 21, with the late entry deadline one week later, Saturday, Jan. 28. Entry registration is once again online. Fees for solos, duets, trios and small ensembles remain at $13 per entry. We are again offering a family rate of a 50 per cent discount after 10 solo entries by individual participants. Band, choir and large ensemble entries are $25 each.
Battlefords festival entry fees are still lower than those suggested in the provincial syllabus. It is our goal to encourage participation by keeping fees affordable.
Participants are welcome for adjudication by experts in the field of each musical discipline and recommendation to provincial and national competitions. To be eligible for scholarships and awards, participants must be 19 years or under and have lived in the Battlefords and district for a minimum of six months prior to the festival or be furthering their education elsewhere, but still supported by parents living in the Battlefords district.
The discipline areas include voice, piano, strings and band or instrumental. Further information about regional and provincial music festivals can be found on the Saskatchewan Music Festival鈥檚 website smfa.ca. Our local area entry secretary, Melissa Hutchison can also be contacted by email at [email protected]. Correspondence can also be directed to Box 1301, North Battleford, S9A 3L8.
Entries聽will be accepted online or in person Jan. 21 at EMBM school between 1 and 3 p.m. 聽
Solo participants聽are asked to email the committee if they are part of an ensemble such as band or choir to help with co-ordinating the festival program.聽 It would also be helpful if teachers entering ensembles could email a list of their participants to [email protected]
If聽anyone needs聽assistance with entering online or is in need of more information, please do not hesitate to contact a committee member.
The festival offered speech arts workshops last spring.聽Hopefully youth who experienced the world of speech arts are considering participation in the festival.聽
We are to be able to offer this local forum for musical talent thanks to Dianne Gryba continuing as president for the music festival committee as well as several other dedicated volunteers. However, the committee is always looking for more parents, grandparents and community-minded people to step forward and say, 鈥淗ow can I help?鈥� If you have any interest in offering support, contact a committee member or indicate your interest on your child鈥檚 registration form. If your time is not available, but you or your business would like to support the festival monetarily, consider sponsoring an award to be presented at the final gala event, or sponsoring a session for a music discipline of your choice, or being recognized as a patron or friend of the festival.
This year鈥檚 festival is currently scheduled to run from April 2-8. Expect some crossing of schedules between the various musical disciplines allowing for an exciting music-packed week. The festival will culminate with a celebratory gala at the Dekker Centre where festival highlights will be showcased and awards distributed.
鈥淚 was 15 when I first became deeply touched by the rhythm and structure of words.鈥� 鈥� Leonard Cohen鈥�
