Over the next few Festival Fanfares, you will be introduced to this year鈥檚 festival adjudicators. The first musical discipline scheduled this year is piano.
Audrey Watson was born in Saskatoon and raised in Vonda. She received most of her early musical education with Thomas Day. She returned to music studies as an adult, first with Janet Caldwell in Meadow Lake, then, after moving to Rosthern, she returned to the studio of Thomas Day. She earned an associate diploma (teacher鈥檚) while studying with Sheila Shinkewski. In 2002 Watson was awarded the Dorothy Bee Memorial Scholarship from the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers鈥� Association. In 2010 she returned to studies with Kathleen Lohrenz Gable, focusing on pedagogy and repertoire.
Watson is active in the Saskatchewan Valley Music Festival, having completed two terms as president. She is a member of the Saskatoon Branch of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers鈥� Association and currently serves as president of the provincial organization. She is pianist and organist and co-music director of St. Odilon R.C. Church. Watson maintains an active studio in Rosthern where she teaches piano, theory, harmony and history. She is married to George and they have three grown children.
If you know a child or youth who is 18 years old or under who likes to draw, encourage them to create a musical themed image for considered use in this year鈥檚 music festival program. The festival program cover contest deadline is Feb. 7. Entries may be mailed to Box 1301, North Battleford, S9A 3L8, or submitted to Kelly Waters at St. Vital School or Agi McQuaid at EMBM.
The festival committee thanks all parents who have thus far offered their time to assist at this year鈥檚 festival, but there are still many areas in need so don鈥檛 be shy to ask, 鈥淗ow can I help?鈥� Simply contact a committee member if you have any interest. 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.
The current聽tentative schedule, pending actual entries, for the 2015 Battlefords Music Festival is: piano March 16 鈥� 18; band March 19 鈥� 20, strings March 20, musical theatre March 21 鈥� 22, voice March聽23 鈥� 25, speech arts March 26 鈥� 27 and gala March 29.
The committee is pleased to announce that the gala will be at a new venue this year, the Dekker Centre, which will make for a more elevated experience for the performers and audience.
鈥淭he notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes, ah, that is where the art resides.鈥� 鈥ㄢ�� Artur Schnabel
