Band entries will offer a resounding opening at the year’s Kiwanis Battlefords Music Festival on Tuesday, March 24. Expect solos, duets, small ensembles, and full bands performing music ranging from traditional to jazz. This year’s adjudicator is Mark Ward from Medicine Hat, Alta.
Ward has degrees from Western University in Ontario, University of Lethbridge, Alta., and a Master’s Degree in trumpet performance from the University of Victoria, B.C., where he studied trumpet, conducting and music education.
He has participated in workshops and brass master classes with world renowned teachers including Arnold Jacobs and Vincent Chicowitz and recently attended a conducting workshop with Dr. Mallory Thompson and Eugene Corporon.
Ward retired from teaching secondary school music in British Columbia and Alberta after 32 years. He has served on the board of directors of the British Columbia Band Association and the Alberta Band Association including a term as president. He is a member of Phi Beta Mu, an international fraternity of bandmasters.
He continues an active performance career as a singer and trumpet player in styles ranging from classical symphonic to jazz and rhythm and blues and has adjudicated at music festivals across the province.
In 2017, Ward was appointed the full time conductor of the Lethbridge Gold community band. He sees community and school music in every form as a critical part of Canadian heritage and culture and is very proud to be part of the strong musical community in Southern Alberta.
This year’s festival dates are March 24 - April 5. Volunteers are always welcome! If you have any interest in offering support, please do not hesitate to contact a committee member as ways to help come in all sizes and shapes. 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. Don’t be shy!
“When I auditioned for my high school band, the band director was excited because my father was known to be a great musician. When he heard me, he said, “Are you sure you’re Ellis’s son?”– Wynton Marsalis, American virtuoso trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of jazz at Lincoln Center
