Music to the ears
Northside bands to perform at Atlantic Festival of Music in Halifax
Three Northside bands will participate in the annual Atlantic Festival of Music today in Halifax.
The junior, intermediate and senior bands from Memorial High School in Sydney Mines will each perform at the Seton Academic Centre on the Mount Saint Vincent University campus.
Eighty-seven Northside students are taking part in the event.
“The band has been preparing for the festival and rehearsing once a week since January,” said Steve MacInnis, director of the local bands and a teacher at Memorial.
“Festivals are a great chance for bands to perform and be critiqued by concert band professionals from all over North America.”
This year’s event will feature student bands from across Atlantic Canada. The festival is not a competition where there are first, second and third prizes, but rather bands perform to a standard.
“All bands can achieve the ranking of gold, silver or bronze,” said MacInnis. “Bands that achieve a gold standard are invited to perform at the nationals in Toronto the following year — all three bands have received this invitation in the past.
“Performances are a big part of what musicians do, therefore this festival is a great learning experience for these young musicians.”
Each year, close to 3,000 musicians from Canada and the United States perform and receive adjudication from international adjudicators through the festival.
“Students also get to see other bands perform (at the festival),”
said MacInnis. “Students also learn other valuable lessons of being part of a band. They learn to focus on a goal and achieve that goal.”
All three Northside bands will perform today.
The senior band, featuring Grades 9-12 students, will perform at 10 a.m., while the intermediate band, Grades 7-8 students, will take to the stage at 1 p.m. The junior band, consisting of Grade 6 students, will wrap up the day with a performance at 4:30 p.m.
“It’s very important for students to participate in events like festivals, concerts and other performances as this is why we learn to play a musical instrument,” said MacInnis.
“Performing for others is what a musician does, either as a soloist or as part of a band. By the time students finish high school, we hope band students get to a musical level where they can continue growing on their own as musicians.”
All performances will be live streamed on the Atlantic Festival of Music website by visiting www.atlanticfestivals.com/live.