Who says an 80-year-old can’t learn new tricks?
The annual Sask Valley Music Festival (SVMF), which began in 1940, is going high-tech this year, with a completely virtual event.
After being forced to call off last year’s festival at the last minute, SVMF organizers are using technology to power through COVID-19 pandemic limitations. Young musicians are recording their performances and posting the videos online, where they are then evaluated by adjudicators.
All performances can be viewed by the public online through the SVMF YouTube channel during the five-day festival March 22-26. A special final performance show, highlighting the award winners, is slated for the SVMF YouTube channel on Sunday, March 28. Links to the videos can be found on the SVMF facebook page.
“We had to cancel our 80th annual festival at the Rosthern Mennonite Church last year just three days before it was slated to begin,” said SVMF President Linda Swab. “It was very disappointing for everyone. Our adjudicators were set to come, the piano was tuned, and students were putting in their final practicing. It was to be our 80th festival and we had to call off the party, balloons and all.
“All that hard work and nowhere to go.”
As the pandemic dragged on, the question of whether to hold an event in 2021 was still up in the air as late as December.
“We made the decision to go ahead with a virtual festival just before Christmas,” said Swab. “We had a number of virtual meetings with representatives of the provincial body, the Saskatchewan Music Festivals Association, and they presented several alternatives. One of those options was to go online.”
Swab said the local festival committee is fortunate to have several members with the technical skills needed to make that happen.
“They welcomed that opportunity,” she said. “So the rest of us said, ‘okay, we’ll do this’ and we jumped in with both feet.”
Swab said area music teachers were notified and festival entries were received by February 6.
“I was amazed at the response,” said Swab. “We have 160 entries, which shows there is a tremendous amount of interest in the festival. Normally we receive about 250, but of course, this year we have no school band entries and there are no choirs either.”
While there are no string instrumental entries this year, Swab said the festival will still feature a full range of piano categories as well as many vocal categories.
“The province recently changed the regulations so singers don’t have to be masked if there is a partition between them and the accompanist, and if there is sufficient distance between them,” said Swab. “We thought for a while that singers would have to wear masks, which would have made it very challenging for them.”
She said the two adjudicators scheduled to be at the festival last year, Dianne Gryba and Casey Peden, have agreed to judge this year’s entries.
“They’re doing it from their own homes,” said Swab. “That presents challenges for them, because reliable internet can be difficult in some rural areas. But they’re committed to making it happen and we really appreciate that.
“They’ll provide feedback to the students through the festival’s online system.”
The festival awards will be presented to top performers in each category. Swab said the sponsorship awards have been carried over from last year.
Swab said the SVMF committee is “very excited” about hosting the virtual festival and providing a venue for young performers.
“Hopefully it will be seamless,” she said. “We’re pushing on regardless of the pandemic, because a music festival is a great motivator for young musicians. We’re really hoping that next year we’ll be able to host live performances once again.”