A few more days and Carnduff and Oxbow will be filled with sounds of various musical instruments, melodies and voices. The 60th Carnduff and District Music and Arts Festival will start off with the Diamond Jubilee celebration on March 2 at 2 p.m. at the Carnduff Legion.
鈥淭his weekend we are having an afternoon of music performances. It鈥檚 open to people who are performing at the festival as well as community members. This year we also invited past performers of the last 60 years to also come and perform as well,鈥� said Pamela Dmytriw, the president of Carnduff and District Music and Arts Festival board.
Usually, there are about 20 performers arranged for the this day, but with the celebration this year the board is hoping to have 30-35 musicians.
Dmytriw has been on the festival board for over a decade, and this year her children will be participating in the program for the first time. She believes that annual festivals have a big value for the community.
鈥淚 find that it鈥檚 really important that we celebrate the talent and that the care that people take in the arts in this area and that we keep it alive, so that it can be something that will be passed onto generations, because it鈥檚 something that can easily be lost and forgotten, if there isn鈥檛 always somebody trying to encourage it,鈥� Dmytriw said.听
The festival provides participants not only with the opportunity to perform but also to be adjudicated by someone who isn鈥檛 in their normal life and who can help to enhance their craft.
From year to year the festival attracts more and more people .
鈥淭his year we have 313 entries actually we had to extend one of our sessions,鈥� said Dmytriw.听
The main program of the festival will take place March 9-18. There will be two full strings and guitar sessions on March 10. There will be 10 full piano sessions March 11-14 and four speech arts, vocal and musical theatre sessions that are planned for March 14-15. Two instrumental and band sessions are scheduled for March 13. The festival will wrap up with the Awards and Highlights Concert on March 18.
The musicians are coming from many different places.
鈥淲e actually draw from the towns of Gainsborough, Carievale, Storthoaks, Carnduff, Glen Ewen, Alida, Oxbow, Alameda, Frobisher, Lampman, we have a couple from Redvers and we also have a couple from Forget as well,鈥� said Dmytriw. 鈥淭here are so many talents in our area.鈥�
In the last few years, the number of music teachers has grown, which gives students more opportunities to develop their musical and artistic abilities. That has affected the festival as well.
鈥淲e have teachers coming in from as far away as Forget. There is a couple of teachers that come to Carnduff to teach guitar, violin and cello lessons. And we鈥檝e got new local teachers, who are teaching piano, and voice, and guitar, and cello, and violin. That is wonderful,鈥� Dmytriw said.
She also noted that the band program has really grown in Alameda and Oxbow, and the band component has become very strong.
Every year there are new participants joining the Carnduff and District Music and Arts Festival.
鈥淲e always have a crop of youngsters, who are new to the music road. We do have some newer students in the older age categories (as well),鈥� said Dmytriw.
The preparation for such a vast event didn鈥檛 go completely smooth.
鈥淭his year we actually faced an uncertainty around festival not knowing even if we will be able to host the 60th annual (festival),鈥� said Dmytriw.
The festival board was really short on volunteers willing to help to host the festival. And the volunteers present were working very hard and were seriously burnt out from it. The board had to put in all efforts possible to attract more people. And it fructified.
鈥淲e started the year with seven positions that were empty, and we are down to just one. So it鈥檚 been great, people really saw that it was important,鈥� Dmytriw said.
She noted that this was their main hardship, and now they just keep their fingers crossed, hoping that the weather will be co-operative. The festival is indoors, yet a lot of participants have to travel and do depend on Mother Nature.
鈥淲e draw from such a large area and lots of our participants are rural, so they have to be able to get off their farms and be able to come to the festival itself.鈥�
All of the festival sessions will take place at the Legion in Carnduff, except for the instrumental and band, which will take place at Oxbow Prairie Horizons School. The programs for the festival can be found in pharmacies in Oxbow and Carnduff, and are also distributed by music teachers in participating areas. More information can be obtained through the Carnduff and District Music and Arts Festival鈥檚 Facebook page.
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