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After three weeks of performances, adjudications and awards, the 107th Winnipeg Music Festival officially closed on Sunday afternoon.
Artists of all disciplines, instruments and abilities were able to celebrate their accomplishments during the festival at a gala performance at St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church.
“I’m so proud of my team and I’m so proud of all the volunteers in the community,” shared Dawn Bruch-Wiens, the festival’s executive director at the conclusion of the gala concert.
Bruch-Wiens also went out of her way to celebrate the forty volunteers without whom the festival would not be able to function. “We need a team of people every day for three weeks,” said Bruch-Wiens, noting that they help to keep ten festival venues up and running as first points of contact for performers and assisting the adjudicators with what they need. “They just go the extra mile.”
One of the most lauded performances of the afternoon was given by the St. James Assiniboia School Division Senior Concert Choir. The ensemble received the Gold Performance recognition for Youth Choir, Folk Song: 19 Years and Under and for Youth Choir, Own Choice: 19 Years and Under during the festival. During the gala, the choir also received the Caledonian Singers Peter Buchan Memorial Bursary, the Mennonite Children’s Choir Alumni Golden Era Bursary, the Saults & Pollard Limited Shield, and Walter Klymkiw Trophy.
“They sang with a depth of emotion that was palpable in the venue and they were so nuanced in terms of shaping the phrase… truly a remarkable performance,” noted a panel of judges on the choir’s performances.
“It’s always fun to work toward festival and get to work on the high-quality repertoire, the challenging rep, and then have the chance to actually showcase it and then receive the education,” says Avonlea Armstrong, conductor of the St. James Assiniboia School Division Senior Concert Choir. “We were proud of our performances and felt good about it. And then this was the icing on the cake today, more than I expected.”
Armstrong also received an individual recognition as the recipient of the Michael J. Proudfoot Award, presented “in recognition of a conductor exemplifying a passion for excellence in choral work.” Armstrong accepted the award from Proudfoot’s daughter, Maddie Hanton.
“It’s really neat,” smiled Armstrong, “because Michael Proudfoot leaving his job in the St. James Assiniboia School Division actually created an opening for me to start working in the division, so that’s just an extra special thing.”
The choir also shared the prestigious Lieutenant Governor’s Trophy with 15-year-old pianist Bogdan Shunkov, whose performance of the “Tarantella” from Franz Liszt’s Venezia e Napoli closed out the gala concert. The winner of the Aikens Memorial Trophy, the highest honour given to pianists at the festival, Shunkov was also the recipient of the Royal Conservatory of Music Alumni Association Winnipeg Chapter Trophy. Shunkov also received solo piano diplomas for Classical Sonata and Early Romantic Composers and the Vera (Sopuck) Derenchuk Memorial Scholarship.
“[This performer’s] talent is other-worldly,” exclaimed a panel of judges in a written statement. “Those who hear him now will recognize that it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to witness his talent here in Winnipeg.”
As she looks ahead to next year, Bruch-Wiens is already looking forward to including more people and more voices in the Winnipeg Music Festival. “I would love to see more people in the family and friends class,” she shares, noting that the festival’s greatest strength is supporting others in making music together.