The Wendy Brook Music Festival is Here

The Wendy Brook Music Festival is Here

Debra Fedoruk Submitted

The 41st annual Wendy Brook Music Festival began on Monday and will run until March 16. Speech Arts is taking place Wednesday morning at the Vegreville United Church. There is Band Wednesday and Thursday morning at the Vegreville Alliance Church. There are Handchimes/ Instruments on Wednesday afternoon at the A.L. Horton Gymnasium. On Thursday and Friday there are choirs and vocals at the Vegreville United Church. On Monday the Ukrainian events will be in the A.L. Horton Gymnasium. It is free for the public to attend. In addition there will be an awards concert on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:00 in the A.L. Horton Gymnasium.

Voice adjudicator Kimberley Denis.

Our Voice adjudicator is Kimberley Denis. She is known for her energy and enthusiasm both on stage and off, and is sought after as a soloist, vocal coach, choral clinician and adjudicator for voice and choir. Upon completion of both a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Music degree at Mount Allison University, she returned to Alberta to complete Masters degrees in both choral conducting and vocal performance.

Vocal credits include starring in a year-long tour with Up With People, as well as productions of Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle Songs for a New World, as Cathy in The Last Five Years, and as Kate in Kiss Me, Kate! She is also a singer with Edmonton’s professional choir, Pro Coro Canada and has toured extensively as a singer with the world percussion duo, Jamani. In addition to her stage work, she has a flourishing voice studio at MacEwan University Conservatory of Music and has recently opened her own music school – the Purple Door Music Academy. She has conducted a wide variety of ensembles across the country and presently directs Shumayela (a choir for treble and changing voices for singers between the ages of 11 and 16) with the Kokopelli Choir Association, is the assistant conductor of Vacilando (an adult choir with the Kokopelli Choir Association) and is a project conductor with Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus.

In addition to her work as a singer, teacher, conductor and adjudicator, she arranges pieces for choirs and is also the managing director for the Alberta Band Association. Our Ukrainian adjudicator is Orest Soltykevych. Born and raised in Edmonton, Orest Soltykevych started his musical career having completed Royal Conservatory Piano up to the Grade 9 level. He continued his musical studies at the University of Alberta, and completed his Bachelor of Education with a major in secondary music. Orest has been active with Ukrainian choirs since the age of 15, when he first accompanied the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir, and joined as a singer. He also sang in and accompanied the Dnipro Choir. In 1984, Orest became the founding conductor of the Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton, directing the choir until 2019. From 1986 - 1993, Orest conducted the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir. He was also conductor of the St Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish Choir for three years.

Ukrainian adjudicator Orest Soltykevych.

For the past seven years, Orest has been the conductor of the Verkhovyna Choir In recent years, Orest has sung with the Richard Eaton Singers, the Da Camera Singers, and currently sings in the Kappella Kyrie Slavic Chamber Choir. Orest served as a member and as president of the Ukrainian Music Society for ten years. In 1999, he founded the radio program “Sounds Ukrainian” on radio station CJSR at the University of Alberta, hosting the program for seven years. Currently, Orest hosts a classical music program on the CKUA Radio Network, which broadcasts throughout Alberta. Seven years ago, Orest retired from Edmonton Public Schools after 32 years of teaching and administration.