ESTEVAN — Estevan will be hosting many talented musicians for the Estevan and District Music Festival from March 11-23.
The festival kicks off with band and instrumental March 11 and 12 with Tom Hearn adjudicating.
Hearn graduated high school in Yorkton and received his bachelor of music education (BME) for instrumental and vocal from Northern State University in Â鶹ÊÓƵ Dakota. He has taught in Saskatchewan and B.C. for over 30 years. He is a percussion specialist and has a soft spot for jazz.
Hearn has played in many groups ranging from the Saskatoon Symphony to country bands, polka bands, jazz bands, pit orchestras for musicals, marching bands and jazz groups.
Spoken word, vocal and musical theatre will be held on March 12-14, with Jeri Ryba adjudicating.
Ryba is a voice teacher, adjudicator, accompanist and performer from Moose Jaw. She studied music at the University of Brandon and received her BME from the University of Lethbridge. Ruba teaches voice in Moose Jaw and is active with the Moose Jaw Community Theatre Arts Organization. Her students have been Saskatchewan Music Festival Association winners and have also competed at the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals in musical theatre.
Anna Marie Bekolay will be adjudicating strings and guitar on March 15, being the first separate string adjudicator for the festival.
Bekolay is a multidisciplinary artist and collaborative musician who combines her passion for all the arts, including visual, dance, drama, design and music, to create a new character and evocative music for every project she participates in. Her education includes a BME; Grade 10 violin from the Royal Conservatory of Music; Grade 6 piano; a year of lessons with piano master Rod Salloum in rock and roll, blues, and boogie woogie piano; and an associate diploma in voice performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto for which she won a gold medal for the highest mark in Canada in 2006.
Over the years, Bekolay has been involved with 30 different performing ensembles and has participated as a freelance musician in a variety of other projects. She is currently involved in reiki and dance projects, and runs the Dance Space Concert Series, which opened in March 2023. She continues teaching violin and fiddle at the Saskatoon Academy of Music, as well as voice, violin, fiddle, creative piano and recorder in her home studio.
Sarah Clark Gregory will be adjudicating piano from March 18-23.
Gregory began teaching while still in high school, and now runs a multi-location private music studio, teaching piano, voice, theory, composition and classical guitar. Her students have won awards and scholarships at both local and provincial levels in performance and composition. Gregory holds associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in both piano and voice, and has a bachelor of education in special education.
She has directed, sung with and accompanied various concert, community, church and symphony choirs in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and B.C. She has been the musical director for eight Broadway-style musicals and performed in four provinces, 38 states, and seven European countries.
She is a member of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers' Association, and co-designed/launched and for many years administered the Community Music Award program for the organization.
A total of 482 entries have been received for this year, up 75 from 2023.
"Please come out and celebrate the musical talent that Estevan has to offer," said the festival committee. "Thank you to students, teachers, parents and community members who support and encourage music in our community."
The award ceremony for band, spoken word, vocal musical theatre, strings and guitar will be held on March 24 at 3 p.m., and the piano awards will take place on March 26 at 6:30 p.m.
