So far I have introduced three adjudicators for this year's Kiwanis Battlefords Music Festival - band adjudicator Greg McLean, our strings adjudicator Rudolf Sternadel and Kevin Powers, adjudicator exclusive to Musical Theatre.
Adjudicating non-musical theatre vocal entries will be Garry Gable, a bass-baritone who resides in Saskatoon where he teaches vocal studies and directs the Music Theatre Ensemble at the University of Saskatchewan. He was named a recipient of the 2011 Provost's Awards for Outstanding Teaching at the University of Saskatchewan. Among his many students over the years are winners of CMFA Nationals, Gordon Wallis Opera Competition, SMFA Provincial Competitions, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Regional), and the Netherlands National Opera Auditions. He is widely sought as an adjudicator and clinician. In 2011, Gable was a featured lecturer/performer at the Canadian Music Teachers' National Conference held in Regina.
His performing career has taken him across Canada and the United States in musical theatre and all types of classical music, drama and in-concert and stage presentations. He has performed several times in recital in China, where Gable is adjunct faculty in music conservatories in Wuhan and Tianjin. He has been heard several times on CBC Radio both regionally and nationally. In Saskatchewan, Gable has been seen on-stage with Saskatoon Opera as Frank in Die Fledermaus, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore, Alcindoro in La Bohème, Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, and this past fall in the role of Merlin in SOA's re-vamped King Arthur. He has performed with Persephone Theatre as Maurice in Beauty and the Beast. There have been many appearances with the Saskatoon Symphony in several of Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the Bruckner Mass in F, Walton's Façade and Brahms' Ein deutches Requiem, among others.
Over the last two weeks I discussed the connection between development of personal discipline and work ethic through musical training. In addition to transferable qualities, much current brain research highlights how the study of music enhances brain development. From the website, Raise Smart Kids, here are just a few of the research studies cited that support these claims. A 10-year study involving 25,000 students shows music making improves test scores in standardized tests, as well as in reading proficiency exams (Source: James Catterall, UCLA, 1997). The IQs of young students who had nine months of weekly training in piano or voice rose nearly three points more than their untrained peers (Study by E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga, 2004). Piano students can understand mathematical and scientific concepts more readily. Children who received piano training performed 34 per cent higher on tests measuring proportional reasoning - ratios, fractions, proportions, and thinking in space and time (Neurological Research, 1997). Pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly in students who were given three years of piano instruction (Dr. Eugenia Costa-Giomi study presented at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, Ariz., 1998). Music students received more academic honours and awards than non-music students. (National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 First Follow-Up, U.S. Department of Education).
With all those facts and figures, I would further argue music training not only promotes discipline and feeds the brain but also nourishes one's spirit!
Congratulations to all the young people who submitted art work ideas for considered use on this year's festival program. The cover winner will be named soon! Also, now that all entries are finalized, watch for small adjustments to the scheduled dates for various disciplines. The current tentative schedule for the 2014 Battlefords Music Festival is: band March 24 - 26, strings March 27, musical theatre March 28 and 29, voice March 30 - April 1, speech arts April 2 - 4 and piano April 5 - 7, with the celebratory gala Friday, April 11.
"No matter what the arena, music education can provide students with a strong sense of determination, improved communication skills, and a host of other qualities essential for successful living." - Edward H. Rensi, president and Chief Operation Officer, U.S.A. McDonald's Corporation
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