Local musicians are showcasing their talent as part of the Estevan and District Music Festival, which started Sunday and will continue until March 28.
Esther Bangsund, who is the president of the festival committee, said that they have 600 entries this year and the festival is going to offer lots of different types of music.
This year marks the 54th edition of the festival.
Piano started on March 11 at Trinity Lutheran Church, and will continue until March 16.
Bangsund noted that the festival is an all ages event, with many of the performers coming from different schools in different grades. Adult entries are down this year, though.
“We do have adult classes that have been very fun, and see good numbers with those classes, but there are not a lot of older performers this year,” said Bangsund.
Others involved with the music festival really believe that what they do is helpful for the students and the community as a whole.
“I think first of all it helps preforming in general but I also think it helps with confidence because students are able to get up in front of individuals and perform, which can be difficult for a lot of people,” said Margaret Duncan, who is a committee member and a local piano teacher.
“Music also helps with their math skills because musical theory and math are very similar and overall how we help these kids and teach them is beneficial for their overall development,” she added.
Speech arts will take place from March 21 to 24, and includes musical theatre and French language sessions.
“Speech arts are memorized poems that people will be reading during the festival and that is going to be very interesting because it will be something different from what people are used to,” said Bangsund.
The band and strings component will be March 27 and 28.
“We are going to have piano in the first week, then we are going to have vocal performances. We have 20 entries for guitar, violin and cello, additionally we also are going to be having a lot of percussion as part of our festival, that being drums and things like that,” said Bangsund.
“The event is open to the public and we want everyone to show up because we and the musicians put so much work into making the festival a reality and it would be great if we got people showing up for our events,” she added.
There will be various adjudicators at the festival who will be evaluating the performances. Top performers will be selected to perform at the festival highlights and awards programs.
“The public can look forward to all kinds of performances and our awards ceremony is always a big hit with the community. I know the performers are always eager to find out what they have won,” said Bangsund.
“Our adjudicators are able to give out prizes and scholarships to the various performers.”
Bangsund believes the music festival brings a lot of good to the community and to the people who perform in the festival.
“The value, I think, this festival brings to the community is furthering musical education and giving a chance for students to express themselves and build their self-esteem by getting out there and performing in front of a large crowd,” said Bangsund.
