BATTLEFORDS – Thanks to the generous support of the Jim Pattison Group, the Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival is able to offer educational booster workshops to any students who have entered the 2023 local festival as a participant.
The intention of the workshops is to inspire artistry, advance skills, create community and enhance enthusiasm. An Orff workshop will be led by Janet Weaver of Saskatoon. Weaver finished her Bachelor of Arts Education in 1993 after a decade of classes and running a private music studio. Her first few years of teaching were in Moose Jaw before moving to Saskatoon in 2000 to continue sharing with students her love of music, drama and dance.
In 2019, as part of her work with the Moose Jaw-based “Heart of the City Piano and Violin Program,” she had an opportunity to literally build a pipe organ. This project was possible thanks to the OrgelkidsCAN project which an experience connecting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through the various systems that make the instrument function. Weaver is an organist with the Royal Canadian College of Organists, the sponsor of the Orgelkids program.
For anyone not familiar with “Orff”, Orff instruction is a specific approach to music education developed by Carl Orff during the 1920s which combines music, speech, movement and drama into music lessons that echo the way children play naturally. A fundamental principle of Orff is the concept that children can learn music the same way they learn language without formal instruction. It is often referred to as a “child-centered way of learning.”
The instruments associated with Orff instruction include bells, chimes, glockenspiels, metallophones, xylophones and timpani. Carl Orff believed percussive rhythm instruments are the most natural and basic form of human expression. The music played on Orff instruments is often simple and designed for first-time musicians exploring organized sound. The Orff approach generally includes singing, clapping, dancing and snapping fingers or tapping one’s own body percussively along with the melodies and rhythms.
For local youth who enjoy visual art expression, the festival committee again welcomes youth to create artwork to be featured in the festival program and in the festival venues. Though any music theme is considered, the committee is encouraging the theme this year of “Music Lifts Us Up.” Artwork creations are welcome from any youth 18 and under in the Battlefords area.
The festival committee offers live streaming for festival sessions again this year which provides an option to attend virtually if unable to attend in person.
Students invited to perform at the final gala and awards ceremony will again have the opportunity to bring their talent to the world class stage at the Dekker Centre. For local folks and businesses wanting to support the festival in way of sponsoring awards or, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Correspondence can be directed by email to the committee secretary Chinley Hinacay at [email protected] or to P.O. Box 1301, North Battleford, S9A 3L8.
The 2023 Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival is scheduled to run from March 13 to 25. Band, instrumental and strings are scheduled from March 13 to17 using the Kinsmen Band Hall and the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Lecture Theatre as performance venues. Voice, spoken word, musical theatre and piano are scheduled from March 20 to 25 using the sanctuary and Logie Hall of Third Ave United Church.
"I always loved singing and writing poetry. I always loved music, and I’ve loved writing my whole life. When I put them together it was probably in my early 20s, where I put words to music for the first time." - Lisa Marie Presley (1997 - 2023)
