The Winkler Festival of the Arts kicked off its six-day festival yesterday at the Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church, with a day of dedicated pianists putting their hard work on display to be adjudicated.
Dorothy Plett, President of the Winkler Festival of the Arts shared what the festival means to the musicians that come out to perform, “Well, it’s a safe place to be able to perform, be critiqued, hear other colleagues that are at their age level or at their grade level,” she said, “and to get some good advice from people who they don’t normally hear it from.
What to expect
Over the course of the festival, singers and piano players will be performing in front of adjudicators and lifelong musicians Dawn Bruch-Wiens and Theresa Thordarson.
Tuesday morning’s performances opened with piano solos from Grace Xia, Jared Borja, and Emily Maier, each selecting pieces from Bach’s catalogue.
The festival is continuing this week on Tuesday through Thursday, and will pick up again on Monday the 14th, with the final awards night taking place on the evening of Tuesday the 15th.
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Though the festival is currently in progress, Plett shared that they are still always looking for volunteers, “Volunteers sort of come and go with the flow, and the last three or four years finding a new set of regular volunteers... we’re always looking for a few more just to make our circle complete.”
Anyone looking to volunteer can find more information on the Winkler Festival of the Arts website.