BLAINE LAKE — A mother-daughter duo from Blaine Lake will be on stage at Telemiracle 2016 in Regina. They are happy for the opportunity to show the province that rural Saskatchewan has talent to offer.
Diana Woytiuk says, "My daughter Chloe and I have been selected to perform on Telemiracle in Regina, which is celebrating its 40th year, and we are so proud and excited to be representing Blaine Lake and area in this province-wide event."
Diana and Chloe will perform a musical theatre duet to Thank You for the Music on Sunday afternoon March 6 at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Diana is happy about the time slot.
"This is when most viewers tune in to watch the progress in fundraising by the Kinsmen Foundation."
The Woytiuks will not only be entertaining, they will be bringing a donation with them as well.
Blaine Lake Composite School, proud of their Grade 9 student Chloe's accomplishment, will be helping with the fundraising. Friday, Feb. 12 they will hold a pizza sale lunch. Feb. 26, a lunch of perogies and sausages will be offered for sale and March 3, they will be selling cupcakes as a finale.
Diana and her husband Keith are the owner/operators of Blaine Lake Ambulance.
"We will also be raising funds through the membership of the provincial ambulance association SEMSA," says Diana, "and we will be accepting personal donations, also."
The Woytiuks are a family of four. Keith is an emergency medical technician and Diana is a primary care paramedic. They have owned and operated Blaine Lake Ambulance since 1998 when they bought the company from Keith's grandfather, Michael Dutchak. Their son Garrett is 17 and graduates this year from Blaine Lake Composite School. Chloe is 14 years old.
In the past, Blaine Lake Ambulance has organized hockey tournaments in Blaine Lake to raise funds for Telemiracle, says Diana.
"Both Keith and I did an on-air presentation in Saskatoon of approximately $1,000. That was nerve wracking!"
Diana and daughter Chloe draw on a lifetime of singing for their upcoming performance at Telemiracle.
"I began my singing career with my mom as she cantored in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Moose Jaw," says Diana. "In much the same way, Chloe began her career singing with me in the music ministry at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Blaine Lake."
Chloe started voice training more than 10 years ago in Saskatoon with Michael Harris and Chloe soon followed. They now train with Sheila Scott in Saskatoon, Chloe in Grade 7 voice and Diana in Grade 8 voice in the Royal Conservatory of Music program.
Diana adds, "Chloe is also studying her Grade 6 piano with Irene Lacoursiere in Saskatoon, who just happens to be our accompanist for Telemiracle and who also grew up in the North Battleford area."
Both Chloe and Diana have been entrants at local music festivals, Chloe as a soloist in her appropriate age categories and with her mother in the parent/child duet category.
"Our highest achievement was a mark of 90 obtained in the Saskatoon Music Festival in 2015," says Diana.
They began singing duets for adjudication when Chloe was just nine years old.
"I still marvel that at that age, she could hold her own in a duet!"
"Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, we will not be entering any festivals this year," she adds. "With my mother passing in November of 2015, it was time to slow down and take a break from learning new material for both Chloe and I."
A large draw into music festivals is the musical theatre category, says Diana. This category requires the participant to demonstrate simple choreography and costuming while still focusing on techniques such as diction, projection and tonality.
"Our song choice lent itself to this category with the choreography being provided to us by Jaclyn Young at Brenda’s School of Dance in Saskatoon," says Diana.
She adds, "Ring those phones!"
