The adjudicators for each portion of the Weyburn Rotary Music Festival has been chosen for the annual competition, which will be getting underway on Monday, March 5, starting with the piano portion. The piano competition will run from Mar.
The adjudicators for each portion of the Weyburn Rotary Music Festival has been chosen for the annual competition, which will be getting underway on Monday, March 5, starting with the piano portion.
The piano competition will run from Mar. 5-10 at the T.C. Douglas Centre, followed by the vocal competition on Mar. 12-14 at the T.C. Douglas Centre and Weyburn Comp School, and then the band-instrumental portion of the festival will go on Mar. 15-16 at the T.C. Douglas Centre, Weyburn Junior High and Weyburn Comp.
The adjudicator for piano is Carol Konecsni-Christie of Dysart, Sask. She studied at the Sacred Heart Academy of Music in Regina, and was inspired by teachers like Sr. Joan Miller and Sr. Geraldine Boyle.
Her music education was further shaped and influenced by contact with artists such as Theresa Fleming, Lana Ramsay, Hart Godden, Lori Erhardt, Margaret Walsh Cobb, Janine Pearson, Stella Wallace, Deanna Gutheil, and Jack Partridge.
She continued with her education in California with Mary Jean Pryor of the College of the Desert in Palm Desert.
Carol opened her Regina studio in 1980, and she currently commutes to her students' homes in the Fort Qu'Appelle and Balcarres areas and teaches from her home in Dysart.
Carol enjoys duo piano work alongside her sister Sarah Konecsni, and coaches the local church choir with her parents. She has been an active organist since she was 10 years old, and plays with a three-piece band, which is currently refining material for a CD.
The voice adjudicator will be Joy McFarlane-Burton of Saskatoon; she holds a Royal Conservatory of Music Associate Diploma in singing performance, and studied vocal pedagogy at the University of Saskatchewan with Professor Dorothy Howard.
She is a full member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, is a Registered Music Teacher, and a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators Association.
Joy has worked with singers at all levels and in many genres, including musical theatre, choral as well as standard vocal repertoire. She has been involved with the music festival system in Saskatchewan for many years as a competitor, teacher, committee member, and currently serves as president of the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association. She also serves as a committee chair for the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals.
The band adjudicator will be Janie Fries of Moose Jaw, who has just retired from an extensive teaching career in band, strings, choral and classroom music. She is a member of both the Moose Jaw Music Festival and the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival committees, and has been actively involved in Saskatchewan Arts Education curriculum writing, advising and actualizing for the past 20 years.
Janie has also written lessons for the National Arts Centre's "Music Alive Program", providing lessons for non-specialist music teachers in Saskatchewan schools.
Currently her musical endeavours include playing viola in the Moose Jaw Community String Orchestra, playing horn in community productions, and singing in her church choir.
The Stars of the Festival awards night will go on Wednesday, Mar. 21, at the Comp Cafetorium.
Programs for the Music Festival are $5 each and are available at Music Craft.
