Let the music begin! The 2013 Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival opens Monday at 9:30 a.m. with choral speech at Bready School. The program for this year's Battlefords Kiwanis Music Festival is available for $7 at Sobeys. You will love the adorable cover created by contest winner Grade 6 student Kaila Robertson from Bready School.
Note that all sessions are open to the public and that donations towards festival expenses are gratefully accepted at the door of venues. The opening entry for the festival will be the Bready kindergarten class performing A Letter to the Tooth Fairy by Brod Bagert. The afternoon of that opening day continues with choral speech across the river at St. Vital School where the Grade 1 class will begin the session with Ralph Bergengrem's The Worm.
Logie Hall in Third Avenue United Church is the location for a Monday evening of individual speech arts with an additional morning of choral speech Tuesday morning at Bready School. The remaining speech arts sessions will be in Logie Hall Tuesday afternoon and during the day Wednesday. Bilingual actor-director-dramaturg and playwright of Saskatoon, Ian C. Nelson, is the speech arts adjudicator. Ian has performed over 130 roles and has appeared in a half-dozen world première stage productions in French and English.
Following the three days of speech arts, look for band sessions to begin in the afternoon of Thursday, March 7 at the NBCHS. Emily Jackson will open this session with a timpani solo followed by eight school band and ensemble performances.
Sessions will continue the following day on stage in Logie Hall beginning at 9:30 a.m. with woodwind duets. Logie Hall will be the location for all further band performances later that afternoon, evening, and finally daytime Saturday sessions. The band adjudicator, Larry L. Schrum, comes from Edmonton, Alta. His performing groups have been both active and successful in regional, national and international festivals. Recently retired from Edmonton Public Schools, Schrum is active as an adjudicator, clinician, composer/arranger and speaker.
Look for the posters around town outlining all session dates and times. If you have considered offering a little of your time volunteering for the festival, it's not too late to let a committee member know.
When coming out to support young musicians, please keep good performance manners and etiquette in mind. Performers have one opportunity to showcase their work making it incredibly frustrating to hear a cell phone ring or vibrate, people whispering or attempts to enter or leave the room during a performance. Any distraction during a performance in progress or while the adjudicator is speaking must be avoided; this includes texting and perfumed scents. No photography or video recordings are allowed during performances, adjudications or certificate presentations. Performers should dress and behave in a respectful manner. Unless your musical theatre characters demands otherwise, it is appropriate to avoid jeans and t-shirts; err on the side of modesty if uncertain.
If you are a teacher or participant, make sure you're abiding by festival entry rules and regulations. Any music being viewed by the adjudicator or used in the performance must be an original copy. The music handed in to the adjudicator must have the first bar of each line numbered and be handed in to the session's secretary prior to the start of each session.
After the completion of speech arts and band, look for vocal sessions running from Sunday, March 10 through Friday, March 15 followed by four days of piano performances from Saturday, March 16 through Tuesday, March 19. The festival will close with strings on Wednesday, March 20. The celebratory gala and awards ceremony will be held Friday, March 22 at Third Avenue United Church.
"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - Henry Van Dyke
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