The halls of Woodside Bible Fellowship were alive with the sounds of the Elmira Kiwanis Music Festival from Apr. 11-16, a weeklong event that saw some 130 performers from as young as six to as old as 18 play in front of judges in the categories of junior and senior piano, strings and flute.
The festival featured solos, duets, trios, quartets and ensembles ranging from pop to Chopin.
“It was a very enjoyable week, and the students work very hard with the teachers and the parents,” said Sue Brenner, the secretary for the event for more than 20 years. “They just do such a wonderful job and it’s a wonderful way for them to display their talents.”
To perform at the Elmira festival, the students must take lessons in the area, but some live as far away as Fergus, Linwood and Wellesley. The adjudicators – Kelly Lindstrom (strings), Karen Rowell (senior piano) and Sandra Young Tangjerd (junior piano) – were asked to judge the students performances, give suggestions on ways they could improve, and to decide who would win a wide range of scholarships and other prizes for top performances.
More than $1,500 was awarded at the end of the week to 26 winners, all of which was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Elmira.
The festival has been a mainstay across Canada, and has been in Elmira more than 30 years, Brenner said, adding that she has seen students start at a very young age and make their way up into the older ranks during her time with the festival.
“That’s cool,” she said. “It’s good that they keep involved, especially since there isn’t much music in the schools anymore.”
The individual trophy and scholarship winners for the 2011 festival were:
Scholarship for $100 presented by Kiwanis and a trophy presented by the studio of Jacqueline Wall for Violinistic Excellence – Janna Martin
Scholarship for strings and flute – Veronica Connors and Aidan Reid
The Myrtle Wilfong Memorial Trophy and $200 scholarship for senior piano – Will Allan
$75 scholarship – Evangeline Drost
$50 scholarship – Julia Bowman, Katie Glofcheskie, Henrietta Flach, Abigail Hamann, Danielle Johnson, Thomas Fast-Sittler, Jordan Long, Irian Fast-Sittler, Sam Domzella, Liv Cento, Mercedes Weber, Savannah Weber, Nathan Shuh, Jaron Bowman, Matthew Beaudoin-Hayes, Cameron Beaudoin-Hayes, Sarah Allen, Rachel Reigier, Andrew Flint
The Elmira Kinettes Trophy and $150 scholarship for junior piano – Tony Domzella
The Jack Price Memorial scholarship for $100 – Michelle Lin
