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Stettler & District Music Festival ends with a grand concert at PAC

Stettler and District Music Festival culminated in a grand concert at the PAC as people came from near and far to attend it on April 24.
Moush Sara John/Independent reporter
Kids perform in Animal Crackers at the grand concert of Stettler and District Music Festival 2016 on Sunday afternoon

The Stettler and District Music Festival which hosted week-long performances with participants from Stettler and surrounding areas culminated in a grand concert as the Performing Arts Centre brimmed with fans and supporters on Sunday afternoon, April 24.

President Sherry Rempel said that the festival was a "resounding success".

"We had 314 entries in total, which is up 43 from 2015 and the adjudicators were fantastic and well-received by the students, parents and teachers," added Rempel. "They were very enthusiastic and impressed with how thriving the arts are in our community."

Rhonda Sylvester, one of the main forces behind the festival and responsible for training the participants echoed Rempel's comments, "We have so many talented musicians in our community and are very proud to offer them a great week of festival to showcase their talents."

Sylvester added that each year they watch students continue to grow and mature in musicality and performance and year after year they get better and better.

"Often a small town is associated with lesser quality, but that's definitely not the case in Stettler," added Rempel. "It truly is alive, active and the students have terrific teachers, which shows in the quality of their performances."

According to Rempel, the Music Festival continues to thrive because of all the volunteers, without which they could not even operate.

"A huge thank you to all the volunteers, the committee, the students, parents, teachers and accompanists who made the Stettler and District Music Festival another smashing success," concluded Rempel.

There were awards for those taking private lessons including Highest Mark (HM) and Adjudicator's Choice (AC), which were given in the honour of performing at the Grand Concert and also an Adjudicator's Choice Award for non-competitive classes – school chorus, speech and band.

Vocal - HM was the Rhapsody Girls and Tiny Tenors, AC was Emma Werbowesky

Piano - HM was Chantal Ratte, AC was Isaac Hernando

Musical Theatre - HM was the Gracenotes, AC was Chloe Shingoose

School Chorus - AC was Stettler Elementary Grade 3HT and 3RV

Band - AC was Abby Spencer

Speech - AC was Big Valley Grades 3/4

Provincial Recommendations were as follows.

Vocal - 12 and under girls was Emma Werbowesky and Alternate Jessica Turnbull, 12 and under boys was Hudson Miller, 16 and under boys was Aiden Kobi, Senior was Kaylee Somerville

Musical Theatre - 12 and under ballad was Chloe Shingoose and Alternate Ellery Robbins, 12 and under up-tempo was Emma Werbowesky and Alternate Chloe Shingoose, Senior Ballad was Kaylee Somerville, Senior Up-tempo was Alexandra Brigley and Alternate Kaylee Somerville

Piano - Grades 2 to 4 was Eve Fetaz and Alternate Ryleigh Bunbury, Grades 5 and 6 was Ethan Richard and Alternate Dayna Kennedy, Grades 7 and 8 was Abby Spencer and Alternate Miranda Peterson, Grades 9 and 10 was Isaac Hernando

Choral Speech - Grades 1 to 3 was Stettler Elementary Grades 2AB & 2DB, Grades 4 and 5 was Big Valley Grades 3 and 4