{"id":562436161,"date":"2019-10-07T12:06:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/metro\/2019\/10\/07\/local-singers-soar-in-national-competition"},"modified":"2019-10-07T12:10:59","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:10:59","slug":"local-singers-soar-in-national-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/metro\/2019\/10\/07\/local-singers-soar-in-national-competition","title":{"rendered":"Local singers soar in national competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

A St. James-Assiniboia School Division (SJASD) choir has received national accolades.<\/p>\n

The SJASD Junior Concert Choir won second place in its category at the National Music Festival, held Aug. 6 to 12 at the University of Saskatchewan. The choir consisted of 65 students, aged 11 to 14, who went head-to-head with other choirs from across Canada. The choir was comprised of students from across the SJASD.<\/p>\n

Ava Nechwediuk and Madisyn Kurtz were two of the singers in the choir. They went to Bannatyne School together, where they both auditioned for the St. James-Assiniboia choir. They’re now in Grade 9 at Sturgeon Heights Collegiate but took part in the August competition.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
The St. James-Assiniboia School Division Junior Concert Choir, under the direction of Gabriela Gallo, performs at a recital at MusicFest Canada in May 2019. The choir is comprised of Grade 6, 7 and 8 students from across the school division.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

Nechwediuk and Kurtz said they were very nervous about the competition — they felt like they had to prove themselves.<\/p>\n

“We were all pretty nervous. We were singing in front of a pretty big audience with a lot of big choirs,” Nechwediuk said.<\/p>\n

“And a lot of them looked older. It felt like we had to…”<\/p>\n

“Prove them wrong,” Kurtz said.<\/p>\n

“Yeah,” Nechwediuk added.<\/p>\n

Nechwediuk and Kurtz said they didn’t find out about the win until the new school year began.<\/p>\n

The pair sang with SJASD choir during the 2018-2019 school years and competed at the Winnipeg Music Festival in February 2019. The group then moved on to the 2019 Provincial Music and Arts Festival before being selected to represent Manitoba at the 2019 National Music Festival.<\/p>\n

SJASD also received the Class 105 Community Choir bursary for groups 16 years of age at the national competition.<\/p>\n

The choir was directed by Gabriela Gallo, who said that many programs like these are under threat due to school division cuts. She wants to make sure the choir program continues to exist.<\/p>\n

“These sorts of programs are very special. They provide students with opportunities they can’t get anywhere else,” Gallo said. “If it wasn’t so heavily subsidized, some kids might not get to be a part of this because of funds.<\/p>\n

“They get to feel comfortable to perform and share their love for the arts.”<\/p>

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