It’s a new year, filled with new possibilities for local young performance artists from the Strathmore region. This year’s Strathmore Performing Arts Festival will take place from March 25 to April 2, and if all goes well in terms of COVID-19 restrictions, the festival will be held in-person.
We spoke with Carolyn Steeves, Strathmore Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) President, about the importance of hosting in-person performances for local youth.
“I think it's critical for children to be able to perform live,” she said. “The last live festival we had was in 2019, Christmas concerts basically. Year end recitals for private studios and for most schools have been all virtual. There were some studios this year that had in person Christmas concerts but it's been a long time,” Steeves explained.
“The children are very excited, at least in my studio. I'm sure the other studios as well, to have a live concert, they're working hard.” She explained that the students want their parents and families to see their performances, they want to see other kids play.
“I think it's tremendously important to have that feedback and that vibe and that excitement and that reinforcement,” she said.
Registrations are now closed for the festival and there are 281 registrations this year. Steeves says the board will now be working on scheduling the entries, coordinating scholarships, and ironing out all of the fine details.
In terms of the festival in 2022, this year is planned to be in-person.
“We are hoping for a live festival. We're going to make a decision on March the 1st. If we're going to go virtual, but at this point it looks like it's going to be a live festival and a live final concert,” she said.
Dependent on public health measures and guidelines the festival will be hosted at the Strathmore High School, Strathmore Civic Centre, Strathmore Alliance Church, and Hope Community Covenant Church.
For now, if all goes well festival categories will feature Music Theatre, Voice, Choir, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, Instrumental Solos, Duets, and Small Ensembles as well as Classroom Music and Piano.
The final showcase concert will be held at Hope Community Covenant Church on April 6 at 7 p.m.
Thu, Apr 25, 4:30 PM
