With Canada celebrating Canada Music Week, the East Central Registered Music Teachers Association hosted a True, Strong, and Free Gala at the Westminster United Church on Nov. 25.
The gala featured music from a number of artists including Saskatoon based composer Lynette Sawatsky, Humboldt native Gerard Weber, as well as his collaborative pianist Naomi Suchan, and young music students from around the area.
Bringing in Weber was especially nice, says East Central Registered Music Teachers Association President Christy Waldner because he is a Humboldt native.
“It was a really great opportunity for him but really for us as well to be able to bring him here and kind of be that role model for some of the younger kids.”
The gala was hosted as a way to showcase Canadian music, says Waldner.
In addition to the concert Sawatsky also hosted a master class in the afternoon with some of the children.
Once the concert started the show featured a number of different styles of music including saxophone, piano, and singing.
“It was just a really nice mix of old and young and more elite and beginner,” noted Waldner.
Getting that mix of talent into one place is a great way to bring people together to share music, notes Waldner, but is also a great opportunity to perform, especially considering some of the students do not get a lot of opportunity otherwise.
“It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Over the course of the evening the United Church was mostly full of people there to enjoy the music, which was great to see says Waldner.
“Sometimes arts aren’t necessarily supported as well as they could be or should be but it was just great to see so many people come out to listen and hear.”
Overall Waldner was really pleased with how the day went, calling it “fantastic”.
“The kids were great, we had a really good afternoon with Lynette, they played well and we had just a really nice mixture of different songs and pieces and levels and abilities. It was a fantastic night.”
