Welcome to our Music Festival 2010!

Following our highly successful inaugural Music Festival in 2009, we look forward to offering exciting opportunities for all the participants though the introduction of creative and innovative programmes for this year’s Festival. Once again we are most fortunate to present our entrants with an outstanding line up of highly respected adjudicators. Prof. William Aide will be returning to give his unparalleled evaluations and demonstrations at the keyboard. One of Canada’s most famous sopranos, Mary Lou Fallis, graciously accepted our invitation to adjudicate our vocal division. We are also very excited to present Raymond Spasovski, a noted concert pianist and recording artist, to adjudicate some of our senior classes. Our strings adjudicator is the most accomplished Joan Barrett, and the ever-popular Jamie Thompson will adjudicate our woodwinds and brass divisions. Dr. Thomas Green will adjudicate some of the piano classes, and will also present a seminar entitled “The Dynamics of Performance Preparation: Strategies for Success in Music Festivals and Examinations”. This topic will certainly be enlightening for every parent, student and teacher. As a Chief Examiner with RCM, and a seasoned adjudicator of festivals throughout Canada, Dr. Green is the perfect person to provide insights and opinions into repertoire choices, marking schemes and other invaluable guidelines that only a person with his extensive background can provide.

We are honoured to present Larysa Kuzmenko as our Senior Festival Composer. Ms. Kuzmenko, a renowned composer, whose compositions are performed all over the world by the most distinguished performers, has agreed not only to become our featured composer, but also write some pieces especially for the festival.

Our Junior Festival Composer, Susan Griesdale, is an up-and-coming composer of early and intermediate piano repertoire, I am confident young participants will find her work very stimulating.

In addition to showcasing the Festival’s most promising participants at our Gala Concert, we will also provide musicians of all ages with further performing opportunities. We are extremely honoured to have been selected by Cadillac-Fairview to participate in their entertainment line-up for a June 2010 concert at the Shops At Don Mills.

In our continuous efforts to provide an environment to inspire great musical performances, we have moved to a new premises for the Festival, which promises to provide much better acoustics. Our Music Festival uses the Steinway Family of Pianos, supplied by Remenyi House of Music, in all our performing events, thus providing our participants with the best quality of instruments to present their art on.

We are very grateful to all the volunteers, who so generously gave of their time last year and as we are growing, we are increasingly in need of keen individuals to help during Festival proceedings. If you have a few hours to spare and wish to be part of a unique event, please contact us at festival@nyco.on.ca Your assistance is very appreciated by the Festival and all the participants.

We would like to thank the NYCO Society for their continuous support and encouragement. We would also like to thank all the participants, their teachers and parents for sharing their artistry with the Festival last year, and look forward to hearing much more wonderful music in this upcoming Festival. Music is a performing art, and it is our mission to foster a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment in young musicians who bring this art to life.

Ella Poret,
Chair, NYCO Music Festival