Moose Jaw has been long known as The Band City and the Moose Jaw Music Festival is one of the cornerstones that helped it earn that reputation.
The choral portion of the festival wrapped up Tuesday as the 70th annual event takes place in the city.
“I think we’ve been very fortunate to have strong support in the community in Moose Jaw to continue having it,” said Karen Closs, corresponding secretary for the Moose Jaw Music Festival. “When you think of 70 years, obviously there have been some dedicated volunteers over the years to ensure that it continues to be successful and to be such a strong festival.
“There’s been a really great tradition of music festivals in Moose Jaw, so we’re just happy that there’s so much interest that we are able to continue it.”
The two-day choral portion of the festival concluded with a concert Tuesday and the festival will resume from April 6-14 with individuals and groups performing in the vocal, musical theatre, piano, strings and band categories.
“We do the choral separate because so many of our musicians are in both and it’s really hard in terms of scheduling for us,” explained Closs. “When a choir enters the festival they enter it as a group…but we don’t know the individuals. So we do them separately.”
Altogether, there are 427 entries for this year’s festival.
“We’re happy with that as the festival committee,” Closs said. “It certainly gives a lot of opportunity for our young musicians to showcase their talent and the work that they’ve been putting in this year.”
The festival is adjudicated by a quartet of adjudicators from outside of Moose Jaw. Bradley van Middelkoop adjudicated the choral portion of the festival, while Sharon Rodney (piano and strings), Winston Noren (musical theatre and vocal) and Darren Oehlerking (band) will adjudicate the second half of the festival.
“The opportunity for kids to perform and get some feedback is certainly a draw for kids who may not otherwise get the opportunity to perform their instrument or perform as vocalists,” Closs said.
The festival is spread across some beautiful venues in the city as Zion United Church hosts a number of events, while Peacock hosts the band competition and the Moose Jaw Public Library.
“We’re lucky to have so many great venues in Moose Jaw and they’re quite close,” Closs said.
“Many of the musicians who perform are in multiple disciplines. They will be singing at the library in the Art Gallery Theatre for one performance and then dashing across to Peacock to play with their band and then in the evening they may be at Zion to play piano, so it’s a busy week for the musicians.”
The festival will feature the Scholarship concert on Thursday, Apr. 11 at 7 p.m. and conclude with the Final Awards concert on Sunday, Apr. 14 at 2 p.m. Both concerts are at Zion United Church.
