This year’s Music Festival will be a week-long event, beginning on Monday, April 14th at 9:00 a.m. in the Kipling United Church. Don’t miss the future stars of the Festival, piano students as young as age 5, performing in their first Festival. Monday and Tuesday will continue with piano and organ sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening of both days. Afternoon sessions begin at 1:00 and evening sessions at 7:00. The adjudicator will be Audrey Falk Janzen of Rosthern, who is making her second visit to Kipling Festival. Audrey is an accomplished performer, published composer, examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music and busy teacher of piano, theory and harmony. She holds several degrees, including an ARCT in piano performance, a Bachelor of Church Music from the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, and a Bachelor Music in piano performance from the University of Manitoba. Audrey represented Manitoba in the piano competition at the CIBC National Music Festival in Victoria. She collaborated on two recordings with soprano Louella Klassen Friesen: A Gift of Hope and Endless Song. As a composer, Audrey specializes in choral works, as well as vocal solo with piano accompaniment, and some piano solo arrangements of hymns.

On Wednesday, the church will be filled with the sound of voices, beginning with solo speech arts at 9:00 p.m., followed by singing for the remainder of the morning and afternoon. The ever-popular evening session promises to be an entertaining concert for your $2.00 admission, featuring choirs and musical theatre. The adjudicator is Anna Bekolay from Saskatoon, also making her second visit to Kipling Festival. An accomplished violinist, Anna also holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and an Associate Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in voice performance. She was the 2006 recipient of the RCM Gold Medal, awarded for the highest mark in Canada. Anna enjoys writing and performing music of all kinds and running a busy studio in Sasktaoon, teaching voice, violin, fiddle and recorder. She has performed with the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra, the Greystone Singers, the 1994 National Youth Choir, the U of S Percussion Ensemble, and folk band the drowned. She is occasionally involved with the blues-rock band Wilma, providing background vocals and blues-gypsy-flavored fiddle. In 2004, Anna released Bare Bones - a compilation CD of eight compositions and arrangements.

Thursday morning’s session will open with various instrumental classes, including brass, percussion and guitar. Please note that the afternoon session will have a later start time (1:30 p.m.) and will feature brass and woodwinds. On Thursday evening, bands will play at the High School Gym. Woodwind and brass instruments will wrap up on Friday morning and afternoon. Chris Jacklin of Regina will be making a return visit to Kipling, to adjudicate this portion of the Festival. Chris grew up on the west coast of Canadain Vancouver and Victoria. Primarily performing on saxophone, he also plays flute, clarinet and bassoon. He studied music in Victoria, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Denton, Texas. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Victoria and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Regina. He also worked on a Master of Arts degree at North Texas State University. Currently, Mr. Jacklin teaches band and choir for the Prairie Valley School Division in Balgonie, private lessons for the Convervatory of Performing Arts and works as a sessional instructor for the University of Regina (Jazz Band). He performs with a variety of groups, including the Regina Symphony, Bob Moyer Big Band, Regina Riot, and the Rory Allen Band.

The Final Concert/Awards Program will take place on Sunday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the United Church. The Final Concert recognizes those performers who have performed well, and gives the audience an opportunity to hear a variety of music and speech arts from performers of all ages and levels of proficiency.

Programs can be purchased at Balfour Drugs and Kipling Pharmasave. Noon lunches are offered daily, as well as coffee/snack breaks. Proceeds help support the local Festival.

Many volunteers are needed to make this event successful. Anyone wishing to give a few hours of time during Festival week may contact any of the following committee members: Jean Daku at 736-2598, Monica Dayman at 224-4200, or Susan Lange at 224-4957.