MusicFest Canada

MusicFest Canada, originally established as the Canadian Stage Band Festival (CSBF) in Toronto, is a national educational music festival in Canada. It was founded in 1972 by Robert Richmond (the founding president), Gary Wadsworth and Paul Miner. The CSBF added vocal and concert band components in 1981 and 1985, respectively. The name was changed to MusicFest Canada, in 1987, embracing the instrumental jazz, concert band and choral/vocal jazz divisions. In 2012, in partnership with the National Arts Centre, they added a 4th orchestra/strings division.

MusicFest Canada
Logo of MusicFest Canada
GenreJazz
Dates5 days in May
Location(s)Canada
Years active1972–present
Founded by
  • Robert Richmond
  • Gary Wadsworth
  • Paul Miner
Attendance10,000[1]
Organized byMusicFest Canada[2]
Websitemusicfest.ca

MusicFest Canada is an invitation-only event. Ensembles must earn an invitation by performing at an outstanding level at one of the 54 affiliated festivals from coast to coast. The average attendance at “The Nationals” is about 7,000.

Ensembles are adjudicated by noted Canadian and U.S. professionals in the jazz, band, orchestra and choral fields. Classifications are either by age (Jazz and Choral) or by an established level set by test piece (Concert Bands and Orchestras). Performing ensembles are ranked according to gold, silver, and bronze; awards and scholarships are also presented to individual musicians.

In addition MusicFest hosts 6 National honour ensembles; the Woodshed Canadian Percussion Ensemble, the Denis Wick Canadian Wind Orchestra, the Thomastik-Infeld Canadian String Orchestra, the Ellison Canadian Concert Choir, the Conn-Selmer Centerstage Jazz Band and the National Youth Jazz Combo.

National finals

The national finals are officially held in spring (usually 5 days in May) in several Canadian cities.[3] Regional competitions are held during the preceding three months. In 1991, nearly 400,000 musicians participated in the preliminary events; some 8,000 (in more than 350 stage and concert bands, jazz combos, and choral groups) proceeded to the finals.

Activities at the national finals have also included clinics and concerts, the latter offered over the years by the Boss Brass, Gary Burton, Canadian Brass, the Humber College Faculty Band, Maynard Ferguson, and Woody Herman big bands, the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, Oscar Peterson, Quazz, UZEB, the Swingle Singers, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Vertical Voices, Sixth Wave, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, Diana Krall, the New York Voices and others. The festival's closing concert of winning ensembles has been documented by TV specials produced for TVOntario, CBC Television and in 1976, 1977 and annually beginning in 1980, CTV.

Host cities

Board and Officers

Executive Director/Associate Director

Jim Howard was appointed as the national co-ordinator in 1984 and the executive director in 1985. In 2016, Neil Yorke-Slater was appointed as the associate director.

Current executives
  • Peter Grant, Immediate Past Chairman of the Board[5]
  • Denny Christianson, President
  • Bryan Stovell, Vice-president
  • Jim Howard, Executive director
  • Neil Yorke-Slader, Associate director
  • Thaddeus Howard, Executive assistant
  • Andy Morris, Treasurer
  • Kevin Merkley, Secretary

Additional chairs
  • John Chalmers, Choral/Vocal Jazz Division
  • Sharon Fitzsimmons, Concert Band Division
  • Neil Yorke-Slader, Instrumental Jazz Division
  • Dr. Tony Leong, Orchestra/String Division

Presidents-past and present
  • Robert Richmond (1972–1984)
  • John Nikel (1984–1986)
  • Allen S. Michalek (1986–1996)
  • Tom Glenn (1996–2005)
  • Mark Wicken (2005–2018)
  • Denny Christianson (2018–present)[6]

Vice-presidents and officers
  • Carmella Luvisotto (Director)
  • Bryan Stovell (Vice-president)
  • Dr. Mark Hopkins (Former vice-president, Director)
  • Peter Grant (Immediate past chairman of the board)
  • Grace Westcott (Secretary/Treasurer)
  • Kevin Merkley (Director)
  • Andy Morris (Director)

Notes
  1. The 2020 national finals were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[4]

References
  1. "Campbellford high school music teacher earns national accolades - Peterborough | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. April 16, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  2. "Federal Corporation Information - 038650-2 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada". www.ic.gc.ca. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  3. "History". MusicFest Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  4. "Musicfest Canada regrets to announce that "The Nationals" is cancelled this year". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  5. "Peter Grant". MusicFest. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  6. "Board of Directors". MusicFest Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
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