Wendy Brook 44th Annual Music Festival

Wendy Brook 44th Annual Music Festival

Vocal Performances Wowed the Crowd

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

A world of wonder captured people’s hearts when musicians performed their polished vocal and musical theatre pieces at the Wendy Brook 44th Annual Music Festival at Vegreville United Church on March 9 and 10.

Adjudicator Mame Goehner said the musicians made fantastic choices with their song selections and she loved their sound.

Goehner said the solo performers had stunning voices that could go low or high.

The youth choirs had so much potential where their sound was full, rich, and big.

Carmen Bruce sings the jazz piece of Blue Skies by Irving Berlin.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

Samantha Rarama performs Castle on a Cloud by ClaudeMichel Schonberg & Herbert Kretzmer.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

“The musical theatre’s performers’ selections were really planned out. You did really well in your performances. You are very talented and you’re rhythm and voices were perfect when you performed your selections.”

Especially noteworthy was the tribute performance for Founder of the Wendy Brook Music Festival Association Elizabeth Giebelhaus who passed away on December 9, 2022. For this music selection of My Favorite Things by R. Rodgers O. Hammerstein performed by Vegreville Youth Ensemble, the musicians substitute the words of the favorite things with Elizabeth’s favorite things.

On March 13, Ksenia Maryniak was the Adjudicator for the Ukrainian Vocal pieces which were performed at A.L. Horton Elementary School where she said their Ukrainian performances were beautiful and they had lovely voices.

St. Martin of Tours Youth Choir.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

Festival Ushered in with Instrumental Pieces

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

The Wendy Brook 44th Annual Music Festival commenced with piano pieces performed by the youngest set of players at Vegreville United Church Sanctuary on March 6 and 7.

Olive Wiebe who is five-years-old and Jaren Borstel who is six-years-old said this is the first time they performed at this festival.

Olive Wiebe performs for the first time.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

The Adjudicator for the piano entries was Wendy Nieuwenhuis who said the youngest players all did a really good job where they had great rhythm and counted really well.

Nieuwenhuis went on to say the slightly older group did a great job.

L-R: Roman Kirk, Callina Artymko, Lochlan Kirk.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

On March 13, Mathias Silveira was the Adjudicator for the violin and school bands performances at Vegreville Alliance Church.

He said the performances were wonderful. Some of the violin players had a strong and really good tone while playing and really clean string crossings.

Speech Arts Stars Shine

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

People were able to showcase their public speaking and performing skills while being evaluated by Adjudicator Ellen Chorley at the Wendy Brook 44th Annual Music Festival on March 9 in Vegreville United Church Auditorium.

Chorley said the younger set of performers from the different classrooms did a great job, and she could tell they were excited to give the performances. “The gestures you made were fantastic. I could tell you were comfortable performing on stage. You painted a picture of the poem with your words, had great memorization, and your choreography was outstanding.”

After the older groups of students performed, Chorley said, “You had excellent focus. You spoke loud and clear and did a fantastic job. Your stories had surprising endings, and you did a great job of listening to each other.”

Some of the students in A.L. Horton Elementary School Grade One Class.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

For Vegreville Reader’s Theatre Group, Chorley mentioned, “Everyone was so loud and clear. You really made an excellent team. Your acting was really great and you did a good job of being your characters.”

For the younger solo performers, Chorley said, “You showed a lot of confidence and had fantastic memorization.

Then on March 13, Ksenia Maryniak was the Adjudicator for the Ukrainian Choral Speech and Poetry Solo performances at A.L. Horton Elementary School.

Maryniak said the children’s voices were beautiful, they stayed in tune and were well behaved.