WALKERTON – After a long wait in silence, the music halls will again be alive with the music of the Midwestern Ontario Rotary Music Festival.
Beginning on April 17 and continuing until April 26, Walkerton will be hosting the 39th annual music festival. This competition is the culmination of hard work and practice for local music and dance students. Some of the disciplines included are piano, strings, voice, instrumental and dance. There are classes for beginning students to advanced, as well as school and community choirs and school bands. The performers come from as far away as Palmerston, Goderich and Port Elgin, as well as locally.
A professional adjudicator will judge each class and give encouraging and helpful comments. Some winners will be awarded scholarships and trophies. The top winners are given the chance to go on to compete at the provincial level. All these awards are given out at the Highlights Concert, an entertaining presentation of the best in all disciplines. It takes place on April 29 at Walkerton District Secondary School at 7:30 p.m.
The Walkerton Rotary Club, with the help of the local Ontario Registered Music Teachers puts on the festival. It takes many volunteers to organize the event and many monetary donations to fund the scholarships.
Not only is this a great learning experience for the performers, but it is also a wonderful opportunity for the public to take in the many performances. One can hear a great variety of styles of music throughout the two-week festival. For example, piano and pipe organ can be taken in on the first two days of the festival; school choirs and vocal competitions on Wednesday; dance can be seen on Monday, April 24.
A full schedule can be seen in the festival programme, available at Holst Office Supply.
