Corridor performers as young as six years old have taken to the stage at the Howe Sound Music Festival to show off their musical chops under the scrutiny of highly experienced musical judges.
"The nice thing about having people come out to watch is it makes them aware of the talent we have here and hopefully will inspire them to get involved by either participating in future years, volunteering in future years or perhaps giving scholarships," said Howe Sound Music Festival executive director Veronica McPhee.
The festival started Thursday (April 15) and runs until Sunday (April 18) with the Hi-lite gala finale showcasing the best festival performers on the last day.
Musicians who earn a score of 86 per cent or higher through the festival adjudication are asked to entertain the afternoon crowd at the closing gala.
"That's a nice opportunity for the public to see the cream of the crop," said McPhee.
Participants playing at the Hi-lites Gala have a chance to earn up to $600 in scholarships and receive awards for their age category competition.
About 100 performers are competing in the vocal or piano category, vying for top marks from two renowned adjudicators, Aline Banno and Joanne Hounsell, while earning a spot at the provincial music competition taking place from Sunday May 23 to 27 in Duncan, 小蓝视频
With dozens of age and genre competition categories, including Baroque, sonata, musical theatre, light opera and folk, there's something suitable for practically every performer.
"The goal of the music festival is always to encourage the growth and development of students of all ages, so a lot of emphasis is put on encouraging students to continue their studies with some constructive feedback about their performances," said McPhee.
Piano adjudicator Banno and vocal adjudicator Hounsell provide the constructive feedback. McPhee said both judges are musical performers and instructors with experience in dealing with young musicians.
"I wanted to find someone that has experience working with that age group," McPhee said.
"Sometimes you have some really phenomenal performers but they don't really know how to relate to children."
All of the Squamish festival performances will take place at St. John the Divine Anglican Church located at 1930 Diamond Rd, while all of the Whistler performance will take place at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church located at the west end of Lorimer Road, about two km from Whistler Village.
Performance times during the four-day festival start as early as 9 a.m. and finish as late as 8:30 p.m. Admission to any of the performance sessions is $2 per person. All sessions are open to the public and tickets can be purchased at the door. A festival pass can be purchased for $10. Admission to the Hi-lites Gala alone costs $7 and takes place at St. John the Divine Anglican Church on Sunday (April 18) at 3 p.m.
This is the ninth Howe Sound Music Festival sponsored by the Howe Sound Performing Arts Association, however this year marks the start of a rotation between the music festival and the association's Star Search competition.
For additional information on the festival visit www.musicfestivalweb.com/hsmf.
