Message from the Chairman of the Board - Festival 2021
We are in the final stages of planning the 2021 Kiwanis Music Festival of London. We were days away from the start of the 2020 Festival when everything in the Province shut down so we could all take the necessary safety precautions needed to protect ourselves from Covid-19. Early this past summer, the Festival Board met several times to determine if it was feasible to offer a Festival for the 2021 year. The answer was a resounding yes; however, it would have to be done virtually, not face to face.
We had never offered the festival in a virtual manner and it really meant starting over again. The Board members have worked tirelessly to make this happen.
It started with a revised Syllabus as we knew that many of the Choir, Orchestra and Band Classes would not be part of this year’s event. The Boards of Education suspended group school music programs due to the social distancing requirements.
Entry fees have been reduced. Our costs remain similar to past years. We will not have Adjudicators’ travel costs and only limited Hall Expenses. However, there are increased expenses in additional help needed during peak times, computer design and implementation.
Full instructions on how to submit performances will be sent to all participants once they have entered to make it as easy as possible for everyone to send in their performances.
We would like to live stream the Young-Ja Park Memorial Piano Competition, the Rose Bowl and the Pipe Organ Competitions. As we get closer to those events, we will have a better idea if this will be feasible.
Overall, we are providing the best possible Music Festival that we can under the current circumstances. You can be assured that we will continue to hire the finest Adjudicators for these events and the contestants will continue to receive written adjudications for their performances.
As I mentioned earlier, this would not have occurred without many extra hours going into the preparation by the dedicated Board members that put this Festival together. My hat goes off to all of them with a sincere thank you.
Jim Scott
Festival Chair
cjscott@sympatico.ca