Jane McLaren, registrar 1602 Walton Street Cornwall, ON, K6H 1W2 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Welcome to our 64^th year.

The Kinsmen Club of Cornwall wish to invite you to celebrate 64 years of supporting and encouraging music and the arts in the Cornwall area!  This is our 64th year of the Kinsmen Music Festival and we are celebrating by offering you some great opportunities at this year’s festival, April 3 – 8^th, 2018

The Kinsmen Music Festival promotes a workshop style festival and performance experience in which the talents of each participant are celebrated and enhanced. The family, the music teacher(s) and adjudicator(s) act in unison in supporting the participant’s positive growth in musical skills, enjoyment of, and appreciation for music. It is not about winning, but rather it’s about the nurturing of a life-long appreciation for the value of music as the universal language of humanity.

Again this year, the request of our adjudicators, there will be no written notes presented for piano or voice classes.  In lieu of this the adjudicator will have increased time to workshop with the participants increasing opportunity for experiential learning. Parents and/or teachers will be permitted to videotape the workshop segment so that they can review the learning and work on the skills shared at the festival.  This is a departure from the ‘no recording of the adjudicator’s comments’ of previous years and we encourage teachers to share this information with participants so that they can take advantage of this learning opportunity!  In order to better facilitate the workshop style memorization will is optional but encouraged.

This year the Kinsmen Music Festival is pleased to bring back The Piano Challenge Class and we are also pleased to continue our bursary classes. These include four (4) piano bursaries and two (2) voice bursaries of $50 each to young musicians displaying outstanding potential at the festival across a variety of musical genre.  Please note, in keeping with the non-competitive nature of the festival, the bursaries will be awarded for outstanding potential in music and not for the ‘best performance.’ For more information please see our trophy listing. 

New this year is the “My Teacher and Me” piano class where a student and teacher may perform together. In this class only the student will be adjudicated and receive comments / assistance from the adjudicator (no stress or pressure for teachers)!  It is a great way for young performers who have not yet competed on the ‘theatre stage’ to test the waters without having to go solo for the first time.  Early year performances where there is a teacher’s accompaniment are welcome in this class as well as teacher/student duets!  Also new this year is the Kinsmen Choice Trophy. This trophy will be decided by the Kinsmen volunteers who are in attendance throughout the week and presented to a individual or group that stood out during the week for the way their performance exemplified the heart of the Kinsmen Music Festival.  All competitors, private and school, solo and group, are eligible for this trophy and there may be more than one winner at the discretion of the Kinsmen.

If you are interested in being a first time participant in our music festival we’d love to help you with the various classes, and let you know about our music festival. We are excited to have you and you’ll be glad you came!  If you are one of our hundreds of returning participants, welcome to another year of music, community spirit and renewed friendships. We’re looking forward to seeing you again and are glad you are taking part.

We are pleased to welcome Lesley Andrew as our vocal adjudicator and Amy Boyes as our piano adjudicator. 

Lesley Andrew is known for her extraordinary vocal range and versatility in many genres of music, Ms. Andrew often ‘switches hats’, performing as the soprano soloist for one engagement and as the alto soloist for the next – from opera to show tunes, oratorio to jazz. A popular motivational speaker, Ms. Andrew is engaged across Canada by Educators, Universities, Corporations, Service Clubs and Student Organizations.  Ms. Andrew’s professional activities have included teaching and directing appointment at Wilfrid Laurier University (Opera), and at the Universities of Windsor and Western Ontario. Having completed a Master’s of Music; Performance and Literature from the University of Western Ontario, Ms. Andrew continues to take bookings as a performer, director, adjudicator, and motivational speaker, while also maintaining a teaching schedule in her private studio.

Amy Boyes holds Associate Diplomas (ARCT) in Piano Performance and Teaching from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Licentiate Diploma from Trinity College (UK) in Piano Recital. She studied at Brandon University with Alexander Tselyakov (B Mus) and at the University of Alberta with Janet Scott Hoyt (M Mus).  While a graduate student at the University of Alberta, Amy was the principal instructor for the class "Fundamental Keyboard Skills" for two years. Amy's graduate research topics included identifying student personality types and learning styles. Amy has presented the resulting paper "Strong Connections" to the Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers (ARMTA), the Ottawa Region Branch of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers (ORMTA), and at the Music Teachers' National Association (MTNA) Conference in New York City in 2012. The paper was published in February 2013 in the MTNA E-Journal.  Amy currently participates on Council for the ORMTA Ottawa Region Branch as President and Convener for the New Members and Website Portfolios. Amy also leads the Branch Planning Committee for ORMTA Convention 2018 and is a Zone Representative to Provincial Council.

At this time we anticipate piano classes held in the afternoon and evenings of Tuesday April 3rd and Wednesday April 4^th with voice classes in the afternoon / evening of Thursday April 5^th  and Friday April 6th.  Additional classes may be held on Saturday April 7^th if needed. The Concert of the Stars will be 2PM on Sunday April 8th.   This COULD CHANGE depending on registration numbers and adjudicator availability.  In order to confirm the final schedule to all teachers as soon as possible we require all registration to be submitted on time.

Deadline to register is Wednesday February 28th.  All events for the festival will be held at Aultsville Theatre at St. Lawrence College. (Note:  schedule is open to changes pending registration numbers)

The Festival of the Stars will be held the afternoon of Sunday April 8th.  All trophies, bursaries, and cash prizes will be announced and presented at the Festival of the Stars concert.  This concert will hopefully be broadcast on Cogeco Cable 11. Participants will be notified throughout the festival of their recommendation to perform in this concert.  This concert will feature outstanding performances by participants from both the private and school participants who have performed during the festival week. We look forward to continuing the Festival of the Stars in its new format as the Kinsmen Music Festival celebrates young artists in the area!

Please refer to the registration form and festival rules for additional information. All documents are available on the website at www.cornwallkin.com  - just look under the music festival tab. You may also contact the registrar with any questions or clarifications needed.  We hope you are as excited by this year’s festival as we are.  Plan to join us in gaining new knowledge and skills at the 2017 Kinsmen Music Festival – workshop format!

Musically yours,

Jane McLaren on behalf of THE KINSMEN MUSIC FESTIVAL