Roman Ashby, a 14-year-old pianist who performed at the Norfolk Musical Arts Festival, likes to mix fashion with his tunes.
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The Brantford resident, a student at Our Lady of Providence Catholic Elementary, wore a white suit jacket on Monday when he performed White Noon by Naoko Ikeda, making a quick change into a classic tux and tails when he took on Beethoven’s Fur Elise.
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On Tuesday, he sported a bold red blazer for his final performance – Fantasy Bossa.
“I thought the velvet matched the jazz,” said Ashby.
The system paid off, with Ashby, not just fashion forward but nimble on the keys, taking home three first-place certificates. A festival veteran, he now has 10 firsts for his 11 performances over the past three years.
“I love it,” Ashby said of the piano, which he has been studying for six years. “I’ve always been interested in music. I feel connected to it. I’m never going to stop playing.”
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The 38th annual Norfolk Musical Arts Festival, which kicked off Monday, has about 700 participants performing in both competitive and non-competitive classes in disciplines, including art oratoire, bands, choirs, English speech arts, French immersion, French as a second language, guitar and ukulele, piano, strings, instrumental and voice.
Until Thursday, musicians, singers and orators will fill Simcoe churches with their pieces.
While most of the participants are between the ages of about six and 20, there are also adults, many of whom enter the non-competitive classes.
Simcoe piano and voice teacher Karen D’Agostino has 39 students in the festival.
“I always tell them it’s not about going for first place.” she said. “Performing helps them be confident and show off what they’ve learned. It’s learning to work through the nerves, not get rid of them.”
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Festival organizers bring in adjudicators who are professionals in the arts and offer young participants encouraging feedback on their performances.
Amelia Yates, who grew up in Townsend and performed many times at the festival as a child, returned this year as the piano adjudicator. A graduate of the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Western Ontario, she teaches from her home studio in Hamilton and adjudicates at festivals all over the province.
During Tuesday morning’s competition, Yates praised each performance and provided the young pianists with gentle advice on how to improve. She called each back to the instrument to enthusiastically coach, urging them to play the keys with a firmer touch and to shake tension out of their shoulders and elbows for increased fluidity.
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“You have to feel it before you play it,” Yates told one of the competitors.
“I want students to feel encouraged and motivated to keep playing,” she said. “It’s wonderful when you see them being responsive to the advice.”
The festival, completely organized and operated by volunteers and funded through sponsorship, provides winning participants with awards, trophies and scholarships. Both the Rotary Cup for voice and speech arts and the Norfolk Musical Arts Festival Instrumental Cup come with a $1,000 prize.
Competition continues until Thursday. On Thursday at 7 pm, the Instrumental Arts Cup Competition and the Vocal Arts Cup Competition will be held at St. James Church in Simcoe.
The Festival Highlights and Awards Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, March 5 at 7 pm at Colborne Village United Church on Glendale Crescent.
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