Winnipeg Music Festival always a thrill

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/03/2015 (4169 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There have been 60,000 entries in the Winnipeg Music Festival in the past 96 years.

This is now the 97th year of the festival, which has been running since Feb. 27 and will carry on until March 22 to accommodate the large number of classes representing in at least 10 different disciplines. 

It is no longer called a competition, as this might discourage some singers or instrumentalists from entering but there has been very keen competition anyway, with many of the top instrumentalists bent on presenting their best work and perhaps winning a trophy or even a scholarship.

I just finished attending seven school choir classes, which took the better part of four days and I was impressed by the high quality of singing. Elroy Friesen, the adjudicator, gave out lavish praise and several gold rewards for top-notch work.

I listen not only to the singing but also admire the accompanists. Each choir hires its own. There are often not enough to go around, so there is lots of work for the keyboard artists who love to accompany.

My favorite story, told by my friend, the accompanist Helen Black, is of the time, a while ago, when she was standing at the Pantages Playhouse concert  door (yes, the choirs often sang at Pantages in those days) with all her music ready for the marathon of the next two-and-a-half weeks and shivered.

Her friend said, “Why are you so nervous? You’re just the accompanist! Just think how nervous the conductor must be!”

A weaker pianist would have sunk into the carpet with embarrassment. But Helen, undaunted said, “True, but have you ever heard a conductor make a mistake?” 

Another fine accompanist is Amanda Hahn Tomchuk, for whom I stayed longer than I had intended but wanted to hear. She did not disappoint me. These ladies, Helen, Amanda and many, many others, are often the key to a good showing by a soloist or choir.

The youngest singers are also the most entertaining. I remember listening to a Grade 2 choir singing a song about buttons. A young boy in the front row, after he had turned and tickled his friend behind him, continued singing about his overcoat which was too hard to close. His two front teeth were missing, and so he sang, “… it hurts my froat!”

I don’t think that was the way the song should go…

I have been utterly amazed by how many pupils some of these young teachers bring onto the stage. The stage at Westminster United Church has three risers, and they are usually full. Each riser accommodates an average of 16 singers each. But many choirs have four or even six rows of singers. One of the volunteers looking after this “deployment” of singers, said there was a choir numbering 127!

I went to Young United Church to hear violin and cello soloists, and again we were treated to near-professional string playing, and very professional piano accompaniment. To hear this level of playing at a concert in the Centennial Concert Hall, I would have had to pay at least three or four times the price.

It would be good to see more publicity around these musicians in all the disciplines. These young people work hard to get a winning streak going, much like the Jets have done. Could the festival musicians please get more notice and applause, too?

Bertha Klassen is a community correspondent for Elmwood.