Canada Music Week Reports
Yorkton
The Yorkton Registered Music Teachers held a Canadian Showcase November 14 and 15, 2025 at the beautifully decorated Alliance Church in Yorkton. Picture an array of Christmas trees all lit up enjoying some lovely Canadian music. This non-competitive event is always a great way to start the teaching year. Students performed Canadian compositions many of which were from composers in our very own province of Saskatchewan. Adjudicator and composer Dianna Neufeld graced everyone with her compositions following students’ performances.
Encouraging artistic expression and storytelling Dianna inspired our young musicians. There were 42 participants in total, with students from 6 studios of teachers in our area. Teachers also got together for a workshop with Dianna prior to the non-competitive event and heard some of her music. She also discussed new ways to use imagery to make their pieces come to life. Exploring colour and visual depictions, Dianna showed many ways to influence students to use their own artistic expression in their performances. A wonderful time was had by all.
Gillian Rice
President: SRTMA Yorkton Branch
West Central
Happy Canada music week!
West Central hosted another two day Canadian Music Showcase on November 21-22 in Rosetown. This event continues to grow to include voice, violin, cello, as well as piano, with students from Biggar, Plenty, Dodsland, Handel, Elrose, Kindersley, Eatonia, Kerrobert, and Rosetown. We even had the Biggar adult choir Prairie Notes join in, making it an intergenerational event. We were fortunate to acquire the adjudicator services of Dianne Gryba, who gave wonderful positive energy, with musical suggestions and technical tips in all disciplines, and a printed joke for each student, along with her abundant encouragement. In conjunction, we ran a speech arts workshop lead by the one and only Heather Macnab, who guided the students through a variety of activities to explore the world of spoken word and acting. There was a daily pizza party, with music trivia games and door prizes, and an opportunity for students to mingle.
The teachers also gained some insights with Dianne and Heather. Dianne, who is now president of the SMFA, reflected on the merits and effects of the music festival experience and the recent expansion and redefinition of the syllabus. Heather gave us some handy tools to incorporate speech arts into our regular studio life.
Several students were recommended to the competition for national awards. Kudos to Mariah Bakanec, Rebecca Nunweiler, Eliana Bakanec, and Mya Nickel.
In other CMW news, Biggar hosted a concert of Canadian music on November 12, with soloists, school groups, and adult ensembles contributing from a variety of sources. It was well received by an enthusiastic audience in the beautiful Majestic Theatre.
Clayton Braybrook
President: SRMTA West Central Branch
Saskatoon
SRMTA: Saskatoon Branch members are always very active participants in Contemporary Showcase, held this year on November 21st and 22nd at Redeemer Lutheran Church. We enjoyed the strong performances of the 81 pianists registered who presented a wide diversity of Canadian music; composers hailed from all over Canada including Saskatchewan and Saskatoon itself. We were fortunate to have Alyssa Layfield as adjudicator. She brought a wealth of experience and enthusiasm with her! Hats off to Hannah Marple and her committee members, Jhena Dela Cruz and Willette Neïjmeïjer, as well as the many volunteers who made this festival such a success!
The Saskatoon Branch traditionally holds a recital with a special focus on Canadian composers in Canada Music Week. Taking place at Emmanuel Anglican Church on November 23rd at 2:30 pm, the recital consisted of 17 piano solos ranging from junior to advanced levels. The composers were almost exclusively Canadian.
One singer, accompanied by Kathy Gable, presented two songs by André Prévost, Order of Canada recipient. Nine studios were represented in all, and the standard of performance was uniformly high. We thank Anastasia Winterhalt for her excellent work as organizer and Laurien Gibson for her assistance.
Lynn Ewing
President: SRMTA Saskatoon Branch
