Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
The countdown to the 55th annual Kindersley and District Music Festival is on.
This year’s event will take place from March 12 to 22, closing off with the Stars of the Festival grand finalé on Friday, March 23.
Once again, participants will be involved in vocal, musical theatre, speech arts, piano, percussion and instrumental classes.
Classes will be held at the Norman Ritchie Centre, Eatonia United Church, Elizabeth School and St. Paul’s United Church.
Chairperson Calla McLean, said that there will be about 300 entries in this year’s event, an event that is very important in the musical realm.
“It is very important. When you are taking lessons it is just one-on-one, but this gives a student a chance to showcase what they have learned throughout the year,” she said.
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The support that the festival committee receives from the community is very important to keep the festival going.
“We’re very appreciative of the local businesses for their support over the years,” she said. “Also a big thanks to all the teachers, volunteers, parents and students for making this successful.”
Kindersley is blessed with some very talented performers and that is thanks in large part to the very talented pool of teachers that is recognized through the talent of the performers and recognized by the adjudicators each year as well.
“We have such amazing teachers here, we are so fortunate to have them in our community,” said McLean.
The general public can listen and hear the talent at the Stars of the Festival that brings together the top performers from the festival Friday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Church. Along with the great performances you can also enjoy some famous cupcakes made by McLean herself, each year.
There is no admission cost, but donations are accepted and all proceeds will go to the running of the festival.
This year’s adjudicators are, once again, a very talented and musical-wise group:
Karen Frandsen, vocal speech
Frandsen is a graduate of the University of Regina music department receiving both a Master and Bachelors’ degree in vocal performance. In Regina, she has maintained a busy and active singing studio for over 17 years.
For eight years, she was the studio director for the SaskExpress Musical Theatre Studio and has held many different executive positions with the local branch of the Sask. Registered Music Teachers’ Association (SRMTA) and is a current member of the board.
She has enjoyed adjudicating voice, musical theatre, choirs and speech arts for the Sask. Music Festival Association (SMFA) for 16 years. Frandsen is also a member of the National Association of Teachers’ of Singing.
Tanya Derksen, piano
Derksen is the executive director of the Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) and has almost 20 years of experience in the music industry as a performer, teacher, board member, and arts administration leader.
Derksen has a strong education and community outreach background from her work with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. During this time, she developed the educational programming from a handful of local offerings for students to more than 20 programs that reached 60,000 students and adults each year across the province.
Derksen has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Music (piano) from Brandon University.
Will Martin, percussion
Martin grew up in a musical family on the south coast of England, learning trumpet from the age of eight and later also taking up percussion. He spent his early musical career playing regularly in many different Wind Ensembles, Symphony Orchestras, Big Bands and Brass Bands before moving to Greater Manchester in 2001 to complete a B.A. Honours degree in music at the University of Salford.
He has been a member, and performed with some of the finest bands in the world. During this time he won many honours including two European Championships, The National Championships of Great Britain, The All England Masters, The British Open, The Brass In Concert title, two Yorkshire Area titles in addition to touring extensively across the UK and Europe.
Martin moved to Canada in 2007 and now resides in Saskatoon where he works as a band director for the Prairie Spirit School Division, also teaching private percussion and brass lessons and performing clinics across the province.
He has performed regularly with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, various other local ensembles and is the current Conductor in Residence with the Saskatoon Brass Band.
Wayne Toews, instrumental
Toews was born in Winnipeg where he began to study the violin at the age of four. He studied violin and composition at the University of Saskatchewan where he received B.A. and B.Ed. degrees. He played for nine seasons in the Saskatoon Symphony, first on violin and later on viola.
He performed on double bass and percussion in the U of S Wind Orchestra under Dwaine Nelson.
He was a member of the Saskatchewan Jubilee Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler and played in the orchestras for the touring shows of Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Ray Price and André Gagnon.
Toews taught music in Saskatoon schools from 1969. He started the band program at City Park Collegiate and neighbourhood schools and in 1976 began a 25 year career at Aden Bowman Collegiate where he taught band, orchestra, choir, general music and jazz band.
Note
The festival committee’s annual general meeting will be held April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Norman Ritchie Centre and they are looking for more members to join and help sustain this very worthwhile event.
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