THE BATTLEFORDS — The deadline of Feb. 18 for the Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival art contest is upon us. Since it’s the 90th local festival, the theme invites ideas that are ‘blasts from the past” and “flashes from the future” perhaps incorporating the number 90. Artwork creations are welcome from any youth 18 and under in the Battlefords area. A winning entry will be chosen for the program cover, and the student who created the piece will be recognized. Last year’s winner was Aiden Lake from Radisson. Other submissions may be featured within the festival program pages and in the festival performance venues.
Submit entries by mail to: Battleford Central School attn: Lindsay Charabin, Box 400, Battleford S0M0E0 or Ecole Monseigneur Blaise Morand attn: Trina Bahrey, 1651- 96th St., North Battleford S9A 0H7.
The 2022 Battlefords area music festival begins is one month and is scheduled to run March 20 – April 1. AThis year’s tentative discipline designated dates are April 19 to 28 vocal/musical theatre/speech arts, April 21-22 piano, April 26 strings and April 26-28 band entries.
Thank you to the numerous businesses and individuals who have already stepped up in support of awards, scholarships and sponsoring. If you are an individual or business interested in sponsoring, there are a range of options. Advertising space of various sizes can be featured in the festival program; in print and online. If interested in sponsoring an adjudicated festival session, this will be recognized at the entrance of the venue and acknowledged in the virtual livestream. With any donation, there is recognition of being a “friend” of the festival with acknowledgment in the festival program and newspaper. If interested in being a major gala sponsor, contact committee member Jaki Esquirol directly at [email protected]. If interested in sponsoring awards or scholarships, contact committee member Karen Ulmer at [email protected]. If you have an interest in volunteering, contact committee member Loralee Cawood at [email protected].
The culminating gala is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12 at the Dekker Centre. The gala includes performance highlights from the festival chosen by suggestions from the adjudicators. This celebratory night is when awards and scholarships are presented.
In keeping with recognition of Black History Month, multi-instrumentalist and tuba player Howard Johnson is known for elevating the hefty instrument in general, most notably in jazz. He also was an arranger for many popular rock and pop acts. He was an alumnus for the Saturday Night Live band and died in his home in Harlem.
“I have a thing for low pitches — the bass voices in our church choir, the sounds that came through the floor at my uncle’s place. He lived over a juke joint and if I spent the night and slept on the floor, I could hear the bass line very well. And that was very satisfactory. When I was in the junior high school band in Ohio, trying to be a percussionist, the tubas and the sousaphones had their bells pointing to where I was and I could hear what they were playing. I liked it a lot. But I never thought of playing the tuba, it just didn’t occur to me. Actually, it was totally by accident that I ever started to play the baritone sax.” – Howard Johnson (1941 - 2021)
