Music from classical greats such as Beethoven and from musical theatre shows such as Carousel filled Zion United Church during Moose Jaw Music Festival’s scholarship competition on April 11.
Eleven students from Moose Jaw impressed the crowd with their performances while singing or playing an instrument. After the event, judges announced the scholarship winners. Those scholarships will be handed out on Sunday, April 14 during the final awards concert at Zion United at 2 p.m.
This is the festival's 70th year.
List of scholarship winners
• Zachariah May: Grayson and Company Scholarship - $200
• Matthew Flegel: Gibson Energy Scholarship - $200
• Abby Dueck: Agcon Business and Tax Ltd. Scholarship - $200
• Teralyn Ross: Ethel Hall Memorial Scholarship & Rose Davies Memorial Trophy - $200
• Renae Funk: Gibson Energy Scholarship - $300
• Brooke Zarubin: Keith and Rosemary Schick Scholarship - $300
• Emily Steinhauer (piano): Grayson and Company Scholarship - $300
• Jaidyn Gieni: Maude McGuire Memorial Scholarship & Gordon T. Yates Memorial Trophy - $300
• Regine Jacinto: Bing and Shirley Carswell Memorial Scholarship - $400
• Julia Hu: Penny Braaten Memorial Scholarship - $500
• Emily Steinhauer (flute): Jeremy Rhodes Memorial Scholarship - $500
• Louren Sazon: Kelly Churko Memorial Scholarship - $500
History of memorial scholarships
• Ethel Hall and her husband, Gerry, worked to re-establish the Moose Jaw Music Festival after the Second World War. Mrs. Hall was a vocal teacher and the winner of the Justice Brown Award for being the top vocalist in Saskatchewan in 1926.
• Maude McGuire was prominent music teacher in Moose Jaw for more than 50 years. She was a great supporter of the music festival.
• Penny Braaten was a Moose Jaw music teacher. She was the organizer and director of music in the public school system. She was also the organist at various churches and the Rotary Carol Music Festival.
• Bing and Shirley Carswell, while not from Moose Jaw, supported their grandchildren in the music festival. Mrs. Carswell volunteered for the Moose Jaw Music Festival and the provincial festival. Mr. Carswell instilled a love of music in his children and grandchildren, encouraging them to take lessons and get on stage.
• Kelly Churko was born and raised in Moose Jaw. He came from a musical family, took lessons and participated in the music festival. He pursued studies in Vancouver and also spent 10 years living in Japan, where he composed music in the “noise” genre.
More information about the Moose Jaw Music Festival can be found on its Facebook page.
