Heather Latter
The 76th Rainy River District Festival of the Performing Arts is set to begin next week, with local performers of all ages taking part in four different divisions.
“Things are going really well,” said Festival committee chair Dave Schwartz, noting programs for the four divisions are complete and on the website (www.ff-festival.com).
The Festival will begin with the Vocal division running April 6-8, followed by French and English Drama (April 12-14), Piano (April 18-22), and Instrumental (April 21-22).
Schwartz is encouraging participants to check out the programs and note the date, time, and venue of each of their performances.
He added people are welcome to print their own copies of the session to bring with them, or there will be programs available at the door to purchase.
“But we are encouraging people to use the website as much as they can,” Schwartz stressed.
“It saves us a lot of printing costs and it is just so handy to be able to put it up on the website and modify as we go,” he remarked.
“If we find errors, we can just fix it right away and let people know.
“So we really want people to look at the website because it has all the information,” he reiterated.
Schwartz also said the committee has a slate of top-notch adjudicators ready to evaluate the performances.
“That’s always a big part of our Festival to make sure we have professional adjudicators,” he noted, adding the vocal adjudicator, Sarah Hall, has done quite a few festivals in southern and central Manitoba.
“She came very highly recommended so I’m looking forward to her coming,” said Schwartz.
The drama adjudicator, Melanie Whyte, is coming in from Winnipeg.
Schwartz noted the Festival has had local drama adjudicators for the past few years, so he is excited for Whyte to share her expertise.
Meanwhile, piano adjudicator Jane Petroni adjudicated in Kenora last year and also came highly recommended.
“She’s been adjudicating festivals for many years in the area, so I’m looking forward to see what she thinks about our program,” Schwartz said.
And Nancy Nowosad is adjudicating the instrumental portion.
“She was actually here in 2013 for piano, so that’s pretty interesting that she’s been here before and willing to come back again,” Schwartz reasoned.
“So hopefully that’s a good sign.
“I’m looking forward to what they all think about our little Festival here,” he added.
Schwartz said Festival entries for 2016 are comparable to last year.
“Piano and vocal are almost the same as last year, which is good,” he remarked, noting piano, in particular, is very strong locally compared to other festivals.
“The last few years, the adjudicators have said they are very surprised by how strong our Festival is in piano.”
Schwartz added drama entries are pretty close to last year but French is down a little bit.
“Almost all our entries for drama and French come through the schools, and I know the teachers are extremely busy with everything they are doing,” he conceded.
“To find time to just get the entries that we do have is very impressive.
“I’m sure that’s becoming more and more of a challenge for the teachers to be able to prep these kids, get them ready, and get the entries in,” Schwartz said.
“So the entries that we do have, we’re very grateful for and we do understand that teachers are really busy.”
The instrumental division was down slightly, as well.
“But again, we get a lot of instrumental through the schools,” Schwartz said.
“Kids are doing so much these days that I think it’s excellent that we are getting the entries that we’re getting,” he stressed.
“It’s a strong Festival for the size of the area that we have, but I think that’s a testament to the music teachers and other teachers in the area that help us out with that.”
Schwartz indicated the Festival has a good committee and some great volunteers have been working hard in preparation for it.
He noted Maureen Hahkala is busy right now making up the volunteer schedule.
“For all the venues, we need an adjudicator’s assistant and people to man the doors,” he said.
“So if anyone is interested in volunteering, please let us know.
“We would greatly appreciate the help,” Schwartz added, saying they can contact Hahkala at 274-1034.
“Monetary donations are also welcome and there are still a couple of awards that need sponsorship,” noted Schwartz, offering other ways for people to assist with the Festival.
Once the busy three weeks of the Festival are complete, the adjudicators will select the winners of Festival awards, which then will be handed out at the Highlights Concert on Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Townshend Theatre.
“It’s a bit of a change,” Schwartz said. “We are not going on the weekend this year because they were all booked up.
“It’s also a little more expensive to have the theatre on the weekends, so we’ve elected to go during the week,” he added.
“We’re hoping that’s going to work for as many people as possible.”
He added if kids are so inclined, and the adjudicator thinks the performance is good enough, they can be recommended to the Manitoba provincials, as well, which are held in Brandon at the end of May.
This is a new for local performers since the Festival joined the Associated Manitoba Arts Festivals this year.
In related news, last year’s winners are reminded to return trophies and plaques to Garry Wilde (276-1012).
Anyone with questions can contact Schwartz at 274-6031 or via e-mail at daveschwartz@hotmail.com
