The 81st local Music Festival season will come to a close with the celebratory gala and awards ceremony being held at 7 p.m. Friday in Logie Hall at Third Avenue United Church. Admission is $5 per person or $15 per family with free admission for award recipients and award presenters. We are excited to have, for the first time, a gala sponsor, 2Extreme Limousine, to cover the cost of snacks and refreshments available at the close of the awards ceremony. Come out to enjoy some adjudicator-chosen highlighted performances from the festival and to help honour the numerous young people from our community receiving special recognition courtesy of local individuals and businesses.
Bravo to the three schools that prepared half days of choral speech entries to share with fellow students, families, and school communities; St. Vital, EMBM and Bready. We are incredibly privileged to have accomplished strings students in our community share their skills in public for all of us to view and enjoy. The piano segment, as always, showcased incredible student talent and superior local piano instruction. It is a joy to watch young piano and voice students grow each year into more skilled intermediate students and then highly accomplished senior performers. The evenings of musical theatre never disappoint. Senior band students continue to set high standards for the younger students following in their footsteps.
In case you have any question as to the value of learning music, consider the top 20 reasons according to LifeOrganizers.com - 1: Music training has been linked to spatial-temporal reasoning skills (ex. reading maps, solving puzzles). 2: Musical symbols, structure, and rhythmic training utilize fractions, ratios, and proportions, all important in mathematical study. 3: It increases problem solving, logic, and thinking skills. 4: It optimizes brain neuron development and circuitry. 5: It assists motor development especially coordination of hands, eyes, and body. 6: It expands multiple intelligences and helps transfer study, cognitive, and communication skills. 7: Group orchestra or ensemble activities help promote cooperation, social harmony, and discipline while working together toward a common goal. 8: Music augments memory (ex. singing ABCs). 9: Singing is a great way to improve reading ability and instruction. 10: In vocal music learning rhythm, phrasing, and pitch enhances language, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. 11: It can improve reading and writing. 12: It can help decrease performance anxiety, teaching kids how to handle stress. 13: It helps children channel unexpressed emotions in a positive way. 14: It boosts creative thinking. 15: Reading music and performing memorized pieces help children to think ahead. 16: Improvisation helps people to "think on their feet". 17: Solo performance is connected to self-esteem. 18: When kids prepare and consistently practice for recital or performance, they generally apply similar determination and perseverance to other endeavours. 19: It enables higher levels of concentration. 20: Children who study music usually have a better attitude, are more motivated and are less intimidated by learning new things.
