Some of Squamish’s best young musical talent rocked the stage at the Howe Sound Music Festival’s highlights concert on Sunday, and a trio of talented performers are set to represent Squamish at the provincials.
The highlights concert April 26 at St. John the Divine Anglican Church capped off six days of activity packed with piano, choral and vocal classes.
Ashleigh Giffen wowed the adjudicators in the 18 years and under musical theatre category to earn a provincial berth with a powerful rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Misérables.
Also qualifying for provincials was Teresa Donovan, who will be representing Squamish in the musical theatre 14 years and under category. Donovan had a show stopping performance of “I Can Hear the Bells” from Hairspray on Sunday.
Squamish’s Samuel Sherlock impressed the adjudicators with a strong overall performance of “Famous Blue Raincoat” by Leonard Cohen to qualify for provincials in the 18 and under classical voice category.
Also heading to the provincial festival as observers are Chloe Wiesenthal in the 18 an under classical voice division and Brigitte Van De Wetering in the 14 and under classical voice category. Observers are promising performers who have a strong chance to qualify for future provincials.
The provincial festival runs from May 26 to 30 in Powell River.
In other news, it was announced that the HSMF is likely to include performances from string instrument artists next year. Young musician Sofie Hill showed off her skills on the strings to encourage youth to join her in 2016.
The following performers also earned scholarships based on their work at the HSMF:
$75 Vocalist 14 years & under - Zora Jajic
$75 Vocalist 18 years & under - Brigitte Van De Wetering
$50 Classical Vocalist, Open - Chloe Wiesenthal
$100 Musical Theatre Vocalist - Samuel Sherlock
Book Folksong Award - Sabrina Lanter
$100 Duet, Trio or Quartet Award - Teresa Donovan and Riley Bowie
$50 Piano Scholarship (Most Promising level Beg.-3 Solo) - Kaitlyn Regehr
$75 Piano Scholarship (Most Promising level 4-5 solo) Samuel Misquitta
$100 Piano Scholarship (Most Promising level 6-Honours solo) Grace Robertson
$50 Piano Scholarship (Best performance of a baroque composition) Erika Wilderwanck
$50 Piano Solo, Romantic or 20th/21st Century, Modern/Contemporary - Jon Gill
$50 Piano Solo open - Sofie Hill
$75 Piano Solo open - Shira Weidenbaum
$100 Most Promising Performer in Voice or Piano (18 and under) - Bridgette van de Wetering
