Youth shine at St. Albert Rotary Music Festival

The final notes were played. The last voices have been quieted and the light switch was flipped off.

St. Albert Rotary Music Festival came to a close Wednesday, April 22 and organizers are putting finishing touches on the crowning ceremony.

Encore! Awards Ceremony and Concert is the festival’s windup event. It takes off next week on Thursday, April 30 at the Arden Theatre in what promises to be a steady stream of performances and award presentations.

This year the festival awards $12,000 in varying amounts to about 80 performing artists.

“For the kids, it’s not so much the actual dollar, but the validation of their hard work. That recognition from judges, parents and peers is more important than dollars,” said festival coordinator Maryan Threndyl.

Musical theatre leading man Andrew Boyd is the 2015 recipient of the largest purse, the $1,000 Lyle Moore Scholarship.

There were two aspirants vying for the coveted scholarship – Boyd and multilingual opera singer Ella Zenari.

“It was very close. But Andrew had improved so much from previous years. He brought the most to the music he chose that night,” Threndyl said.

Boyd, a flamboyant actor-singer, was also the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Rose Bowl Award. He sang to victory belting out six Broadway musical charts and will use his scholarship to attend Toronto’s Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.

Throughout the festival, singer-songwriter Amy Polczer exhibited her versatility as a performer and scooped the $500 Marsha Stanton Award.

It is presented to a student that enters numerous classes in a variety of disciplines. Polczer participated in piano, guitar, percussion, composition and family music classes.

And actor-singer Grace Bokenfohr receives the Elsie and Bill Filipchuk Bursary for Musical Theatre, awarded to a promising artist under 16.

Unfortunately, the festival’s core trophy, the Rose Bowl Award winner, is being kept under wraps and will be revealed at Encore.

Encore also features some of the most interesting and dynamic performances witnessed throughout the festival. At the Gazette’s print time, a full roster was unavailable. However, alumni pianist David Fraser will strike a few chords at the upcoming concert.

“David is a very talented young man who has come through our festival. Although he didn’t perform at the festival, we like to periodically feature artists that have gone through. Their presence shows the younger performers what they can achieve,” Threndyl said.

For more information visit st-albertmusicfestival.com.