Alisdair will be participating in the Speech Arts section which will be held sometime during the week of March 29 through April 3 (which is when all Voice performances will take place.). The festival will carry on with Piano from April 2nd through 5th, Strings on April 8th and Band instruments will be showcased from April 10th through 13th.
Alisdair will be performing in:
SACRED READING - (12 years and under) - Matthew 25:31 to 40
(He does not have to memorize this passage and can have a Bible with him).
PUBLIC SPEAKING - Participants are to write their own speech and can use cue cards to aid in the presentation. Alisdair plans to write a speech about what it is like to be a Star-Phoenix paper carrier.
POETRY - (12 years and under) - Own Choice - Sir Smasham Uppe by E. V. Rieu
Alisdair will have to memorize the poem and then recite it with expression for the adjudicator.
This is the text:
Good afternoon, Sir Smasham Uppe!
We're having tea: do take a cup!
Sugar and milk? Now let me see-
Two lumps, I think?...Good gracious me!
The silly thing slipped off your knee!
Pray don't apologise, old chap;
A very trivial mishap!
So clumsy of you? How absurd!
My dear Sir Smasham, not a word!
Now do sit down and have another,
And tell us all about your brother-
You know, the one who broke his head.
Is that poor fellow still in bed?-
A chair - allow me, sir!...Great Scott!
That was a nasty smash! Eh, what?
Oh, not at all: the chair was old-
Queen Anne, or so we have been told.
We've got at least a dozen more:
Just leave the pieces on the floor.
I want you admire our view:
Come nearer to the window, do;
And look how beautiful...Tut, tut!
You didn't see that it was shut?
I hope you are not badly cut!
Not hurt? A fortunate escape!
Amazing! Not a single scrape!
And now, if you have finished tea,
I fancy you might like to see
A little thing or two I've got.
That china plate? Yes, worth a lot:
A beauty too...Ah, there it goes!
I trust it didn't hurt your toes?
Your elbow brushed it off the shelf?
Of course: I've done the same myself.
And now, my dear Sir Smasham - Oh,
You surely don't intend to go?
You must be off? Well, come again.
So glad you're fond of porcelain!
Even Mrs. Porter is getting on the Speech Arts bandwagon -- with her own adult poetry recitation to prepare (which is intended to be a big surprise for my Father!) Wish us both luck!
According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association is a "co-ordinating body founded in 1908 to promote the appreciation, performance, and study of music through competition festivals and concerts. Its first festival, a one-day event which drew 25 entries, was held at Regina in 1909. Over the years the festival has expanded from 1909's single one-day event to 49 separate festivals attracting more than 20 000 entries from across the province."
"Affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan, the SMFA opened its first office in Indian Head, moving to Saskatoon in 1912 and Regina in 1957. Early administrators were Fred Chisholm (1908-1912), Norman Palmer (1912-47) and Roy Aitkenhead (1947-57). Its affairs have been governed by a volunteer board of directors and administered by a salaried staff from its inception. Executive directors have included Gordon Hancock (1958-76), Kathleen Keple (1976-82), Doris Covey Lazecki (1982-2005) and Carol Donhauser (2005-). It receives funding from Saskatchewan Lotteries as part of the network assisted by the Saskatchewan Trust for Sport, Culture and Recreation, and Saskatchewan Culture, Multiculturalism and Recreation."
"The continuing programs of the SMFA include the preparation of test music selections for and publication of the annual syllabus, and the hiring and co-ordination of 150 adjudicators. In its primary role as a central support group, the SMFA is responsible for co-ordinating the 49 local festivals, provincial finals and national playoffs, workshops, the concerto competition and the Canadian composer series (a series of non-competitive classes featuring the works of one Canadian composer, usually from Saskatchewan), and since 1987 the Artist-in-Residence Program with the Saskatchewan Choral Federation. The central office archives are also the association's responsibility. The SMFA has viewed its role as one of supporting and supplementing the existing music education network in Saskatchewan. Its publication, Festival Focus, is published jointly with the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers' Association Opus. "
"In 1955 the SMFA offered 8 awards and scholarships; in 2005 it offered 56, many established to honour Saskatchewan musicians. (Local festivals also have offered hundreds of awards.) Test pieces, chosen each year for the fall syllabus, have included pieces by Saskatchewan composers. In 2006 the syllabus featured over 1 000 classes, for school and community choirs, orchestras and bands, for solo voices, and for instruments."
"In 1979 a concerto competition was inaugurated to honour the 71st anniversaries of the SMFA and the Regina Symphony Orchestra. First prize was a $1000 scholarship and an opportunity to perform with the orchestra in the upcoming season. The Gordon C. Wallis Memorial Opera Competition began in 2000 and alternates each year with the Concerto Competition in either Regina or Saskatoon. The association hosted the CIBC National Music Festival in 1984 and again in 1990. In 2005, apart from a wartime suspension of activities 1915-19, the association's record of activity was unbroken."
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