Max Hiske’s abilities on the marimba earned him acclaim during the Estevan and District Music Festival earlier this year.
It helped him win the Murray GM Award for Outstanding Performance in Multiple Disciplines, and it punched his ticket to the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association’s provincial finals.
Now it’s the provincial music festival recognizing his talents on the percussive instrument.
Hiske took top spot in the intermediate percussion division at the provincial finals held from June 2 to 4 in Saskatoon.
“The judges said my technique is pretty good, and I had balanced mallets,” said Hiske. “They said my voicing was really good with the marimba, that each note was good. My louds and softs were good and my rolls on the marimba were good.”
There were five people in his division at provincials. The level of competition was really tough, which he expected. Hiske was the only one who wasn’t in Grade 12, and he was competing at provincials for the first time.
“I wasn’t going there expecting to win,” said Hiske. “I wanted to see what the experience was like to be at provincials, and I guess it turned out pretty well.”
Hiske had been to provincials a couple of years ago when his sister Morgan Jones was entered in the piano division, and he believes the experience was beneficial.
“They have tonnes and tonnes of different classes,” said Hiske. “The biggest thing there is piano. They have a gazillion different classes there. They also have vocal classes, guitar, brass and musical theatre, too.”
He said he was able to take the feedback he received at the local music festival in April and use that at provincials. He noted Dr. Aaron Wilson from Brandon University helped out with the feedback he provided.
The marimba is a large, wooden instrument similar to a xylophone. It has wooden keys that Hiske strikes with a mallet. He noted there are also similarities is design to a keyboard.
A Grade 10 student at Estevan Comprehensive School, Hiske played the instrument for the first time last year. He knew school had a marimba and he never played it before, so he thought he would try it out.
“I think it’s cool to start a new instrument,” said Hiske. “I played piano before, and it’s kind of related to that, but it’s easier.”
It’s a rare instrument, too, as he was the only one playing the instrument in his division at provincials.
Hiske expects he will continue to play the marimba for some time. He plays other percussive instruments as well, and he wonders if maybe he’ll switch to a different instrument for next year. He also remains passionate about the piano and the guitar.
Several other local youths were at provincials. Abbie Brokenshire and Levi Stepp were entered in musical theatre, and Hunter Ruel was in band for the clarinet.
