The 2018 Battlefords area music festival came to a celebratory close Wednesday at the Dekker Centre. The festival gala featured adjudicator-chosen festival highlights from all music disciplines (voice, piano, string, speech arts, choirs and bands) and age categories (junior 12 and under, intermediate, 16 and under, senior 17 and over).
Numerous awards were distributed thanks to generous sponsors. If you were fortunate to receive an award, be sure to send a thank you to the sponsor. The festival committee salutes and thanks all organizations, businesses, service clubs, individuals and individuals for their support of local music education. The cost of hosting the festival is around $20,000 each year; it couldn鈥檛 be done without them.
Festival participants who were nominated or recommended by an adjudicator for provincial competition, please note pieces must be memorized. In order for participants to be recommended to the provincial festival 鈥� where they will compete against performers from all over the province 鈥� they must compete in specified classes. The piece performed must be of a specified degree of difficulty, the performer must be in at least two classes at the festival and the performance must receive a minimum mark of 87.
The festival depends on the many volunteers working as door stewards and secretaries. Setting up and tearing down is much less of a burden with many hands helping. There would not be a stage to showcase local talent without the flexibility of festival venues. Third United Church accommodated the bulk of this year鈥檚 festival traffic providing performance and warm-up spaces. As a teacher at North Battleford Comprehensive High School, I enjoyed taking my classes of students to the Lecture Theatre for band classes; it was interesting for everyone to support all the hard work that mostly takes place at 8 a.m. when school bands rehearse. We were honoured to witness the performance of the school鈥檚 concert band that landed them an opportunity to perform at the gala.
Hats off to all the brilliant performers who displayed their skills and talent in this year鈥檚 festival. Please keep practicing and making our community ring with your gifts. We look forward to seeing and hearing you next year. Good luck to all local youth going on to participate in the provincial music festival held this year in Saskatoon. Best wishes to young people graduating from high school this year going on to pursue various careers, some in the field of music. Cole Knutson is a fine example of this. It was a thrill to see him return to the Battlefords festival to compete in national classes for woodwinds.
Looking ahead to next season, do keep in mind that we are always looking for parents and community-minded music lovers to step forward and say, 鈥淗ow can I help?鈥� If you might be willing to assist, even in a small way with of the 2019 Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival, simply share your interest with any committee member!
鈥淒on't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality.鈥� 鈥� Ralph Marston
