The Rainy River District of the Performing Arts is gearing up for their 83rd season kicking off early next month, and have revealed the full list of adjudicators who will help performers refine their craft.
The Festival is set to begin with its first class on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The French Drama and Speech Arts division will kick the Festival off this year, as English Drama and Speech Arts follows on Wednesday, April 2, and Anishinaabemowin Drama and Speech Arts ends the first week of classes.
The second week of Festival will focus on Piano classes, which will take place at Knox United Church on Wednesday, April 9, and Thursday, April 10. Following that, the Instrumental Music session will take place across three different locations on Monday, April 14, including the Townshend Theatre, Cornerstone Christian School in Emo, and the Knox United Church.
The final week of Festival will take place on Tuesday, April 22, and Wednesday, April 23, where local vocalists will be able to perform for their friends, families and adjudicator.
According to Festival co-chair Marie Brady, those taking in any of the classes this year will experience new talent and performances, but no big changes in categories from last year. The syllabus underwent a significant shakeup following 2023’s Festival season, but the transition from last year to this year was less impactful. However, anyone looking to attend the sessions to watch the performances will have another option for paying the entry fee that helps keep the Festival going.
“We purchased a Square device this year so people can pay at the door with their card,” Brady said.
“The entrance fee is $3 per person per session, but we will take debit and credit cards, so that will make it easier for people who don’t always carry cash on them.”
The annual Festival Highlights concert, which showcases some of the standout talent form each Festival division is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Townshend Theatre. with a $5 admission. The Highlights concert also features awards presentations.
For a complete schedule of events for this year’s Rainy River District of the Performing Arts, visit their website at ff-festival.com.
To read more about this year’s adjudicators, see their complete bios below.
Piano Division – Lee Houghton-Stewart
Lee has a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Literature and has studied collaborative piano at both Brandon and McGill Universities with pianists who have included Michael McMahon, Tom Plaunt, Lawrence Jones, and Don Henry.
In Ontario Lee performed frequently with Sudbury Chamber Singers, Rapport Singers of North Bay and travelled with her duo In Tandem to perform in small communities in northern Ontario. She was an instructor as Nipissing University and worked as a festival adjudicator for the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association and as an examiner for Conservatory Canada.
Lee now teaches piano, history and harmony at her own private studio as well as maintaining a studio with the Winnipeg Conservatory of Music. Lee performs often with singers, choirs and instrumentalists and has lately particularly enjoyed her work as collaborative pianist for the Winnipeg Male Chorus and as répétiteur with Manitoba Underground Opera’s productions of Orphée et Eurydice, Dido/Aeneas, Lost Voices, and Il Corsaro.
Vocal Music Division – Alyssa Hildebrand
Alyssa teaches voice to students across Manitoba at many different levels and abilities. She works as a private voice teacher in Winkler and in Winnipeg. She also works through the Community School of Music and the Arts (CSMA) at Canadian Mennonite University. While her background is in operatic performance, she enjoys working in a variety of styles with her students including classical, folk, and musical theatre.
Alyssa’s teaching history includes a position at Providence University college as a Voice instructor, and the Voice Instructor and Vocal Ensemble director at both Cadenza Summer Music Camp and Ontario Mennonite Music Camp.
Throughout her teaching she has had the opportunity to lead workshops on a variety of topics, including vocal health; song interpretation; vocal diction; and performance anxiety. Alyssa has had the pleasure of adjudicating at the Gladstone Festival of the Arts, Rock Lake Festival of the Arts, and the Eckhardt-Gramatté Conservatory of Music.
In addition to teaching individual voice lessons, Alyssa taught group classes for young musicians, led voice masterclasses, and directed vocal ensembles. In 2022, with the Douglas Kuhl School of Music, she has founded a new musical theatre ensemble, called “Con Brio” for high school students in Southern Manitoba. Through CSMA, she directs the Musical Theatre Adventures and Expressions classes, which provide young performers the opportunity to learn musical theatre skills, and to perform in a musical. This year, CSMA is excited to produce Annie Jr.
Alyssa became a member of NATS in 2019 and has been appointed to the position of Vice President in the Manitoba chapter. Through this organization, she works to continue her own education and facilitate opportunities for growth for other voice teachers in Manitoba. Alyssa has a deep love for learning about the vocal mechanism and enjoys discovering how to use this knowledge to help others become better performers!
Alyssa received her Master of Music degree in Literature and Performance at Western University, studying with Jackalyn Short. Prior to this, she attended Canadian Mennonite University where she received a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in vocal performance, studying with David Klassen. Throughout both of these degrees, Alyssa had the opportunity to take courses on vocal pedagogy and early music education.
In addition to her teaching career, Alyssa continues to find performance opportunities wherever possible. In February of 2020, she performed with Douglas Kuhl’s School of Music as their guest performer along with the Post Roads String Ensemble. Following this, she helped organize and perform in an online fundraising concert for Mennonite Collegiate Institute, titled, “How Can I Keep from Singing”. She also had the opportunity to perform operatic roles such as: Oberto in Handel’s Alcina, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Josephine in HMS Pinafore, and Bastienne in Bastien und Bastienne.
Instrumental Music Division – Karen Barg
Karen Barg began violin instruction at the age of four through Suzuki Music Winnipeg Inc. with Joanne Martin, and continued her studies at the U of M as well as McGill University with teachers Jack Glazter, Gwen Hoebig (Concert Master of the WSO) and, Madame Gho.
Karen held the position of Program Coordinator for Suzuki Music Winnipeg Inc. from 2012-2017, and has performed numerous solo recitals in addition to various professional ensembles in the city most notably her own Luminous String Quartet. She has enjoyed performing with various touring acts like Disturbed, The Eagles, Michael Bublé, Il Divo, Jann Arden, Steve Bell, Don Amero along with Canadian Rockers Honeymoon Suite, Prism, The Headpins, Lee Aaron and Chilliwack. Karen has also performed in the Winnipeg and Thunder Bay symphonies and has expanded her musical expression and knowledge through singing and electric 5-string violin improvisation with various local bands in Winnipeg, Fred Penner and his “Cat’s Meow Band” since 2010, and received a Juno nomination with the Winnipeg based Indigenous band Indian City in 2023.
Making her home in Winnipeg, Karen keeps busy teaching violin and viola, performing as a professional freelance musician and maintaining her Luminous String Quartet business as Artistic Director, music arranger, and 1st Violinist. She has also begun a new venture for the string quartet creating the LUMINOUS GALAXY CONCERT SERIES.
Karen is honoured to be adjudicating at the Rainy River District Festival and sends out best wishes to all the performers.
French Drama and Speech Arts Division – Anne Carradice
Born and raised in Reiningue, France, Anne moved to Canada with her family at a young age. Her passion for the French language began early and shaped her career path. She graduated from Lakehead University with a Bachelor of Education with a French minor and a French Specialist designation.
Over the course of 33 years, she taught French as a Second Language (FSL) and served as the FSL Lead for the Rainy River District School Board (RRDSB) for 15 years. In this role, she led professional development for French teachers and contributed to the Transforming FSL Panel at the Ministry of Education level, as well as the revision of the FSL Ontario Curriculum. Anne regularly proctors students up to the B2 level for the DELF (Diplôme d’Études en Langue Française) test, which certifies that foreign candidates have achieved a certain level of proficiency in French. She retired in 2021 but continues to stay active in education, offering tutoring to students who struggle with French and Math.
Additionally, she served as an administrator in various schools across the district for 17 years, further strengthening her commitment to education and the French language. Throughout her career, her goal has always been to make a positive impact within the community and foster a love of learning French as a Second Language. She encourages and empowers students to explore different methods of effective learning, helping them build their confidence and skills in the French language.
English Language and Speech Arts Division – Catherine Bruyere
Born and raised in Fort Frances, Catherine Bruyere (B. A., Hons/B. Ed) left Northwestern Ontario after graduation to pursue studies in the literary and theatre arts at Queen’s University in Kingston, graduating with a double major in English and Drama. Since that time, she has taught English and dramatic literature at secondary and post-secondary institutions in Kingston, Belleville, Thunder Bay, and finally Fort Frances, where she and her husband had returned to start a family.
Catherine is passionate about studying and teaching literature, composition, and film, and her favourite subjects include: Classical and Renaissance dramas, the American Southern Gothic, and Indigenous and Canadian regionalist poets, playwrights, and novelists. Catherine accepted a position as teaching assistant at Lakehead University where she was invited to lecture on Shakespearean theatre and on the work of Alice Walker for the first-year survey and third-year Women in Literature ENG/SOC courses. However, her most rewarding teaching experience started after she applied for a position in the Languages Department at Fort Frances High School. Since then, she has considered herself privileged to have taught (and learned from) the students in her English classes, and enjoyed developing advanced grade 11 and 12 curriculum for students taking the College Board’s AP English Literature and Composition exam. Catherine was also instrumental in developing the high school’s Senior Student Tutorial Program and the Arts and Culture SHSM and served as a guidance counsellor from 2016, until her retirement this year.
Over the past forty-some years, Catherine has been actively involved in over twenty-five university, community, and high school theatrical productions (e.g. acting, stage management, directing, producing, costume design), her most recent projects include producing All Together Now – a musical review that brought incredibly talented Fort Frances High School alumni back on stage at the end of the pandemic to celebrate the rich history of musical theatre in our community—and assisting with Row I Theatre and high school spring musicals. She also enjoys attending plays and musicals and, although she will travel across more than one continent to see a show, Catherine is particularly keen on supporting Canadian and local theatrical productions. This said, she encourages everyone to attend the 2025 FFHS Spring Musical, Curtains!, running April 9-12 at 7:00 p.m. in the Townshend Theatre.
Anishinaabemowin Drama and Speech Arts Division – Robert Horton (Gaa-aazhide-gikinoo’amaaged)
Robert Horton is an educator, linguist, and cultural facilitator dedicated to Anishinaabemowin revitalization. At SGEI, he teaches Anishinaabemowin, Cultural Facilitation, and Oratory, while also serving as a drum carrier.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Arts in Sociology, and a Master of Education, along with a Certificate of Law from Queen’s University. His academic achievements have earned him an Honorary Lifetime Membership in Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Honors Society for Sociologists.
A passionate public speaker and esotericist, Robert is also an author of several forthcoming books that explore language, culture, and knowledge systems.
