Students Colleen Kaufman and Michael Wheeler along with other Lac La Biche area students are gearing up for the 38th year of the Music Festival which starts tomorrow.
The two local students have been practicing their musical performances for the festival for weeks, including a song the duo wrote about a couple and the hardships they went through. Although they based the song on a fictional married couple, the students said they thought of the song’s theme themselves since everybody has suffered through emotional pain.
“The song touches on a theme that people have felt one way or another,” said Wheeler, a Portage College student, who wrote a similar song last year and expanded on it for this year’s performance.
Both Wheeler and Kaufman have performed in the local music festival before and know what to expect but say they enjoy doing it because they have freedom with their musical selection. The two students have also been working on a musical theatre performance piece for the festival, which they got from the movie High School Musical. Kaufman says she prefers the theatre piece because it allows her to have fun with the song and has allowed her to expand on her talent.
“It’s a fun song to sing to and we’re moving around more,” said the J.A. Williams high school student. The duo are just two out of hundreds of area students slated to perform at this week’s festival, which will be judged by assigned adjudicators. Music festival committee president Ron Weir says the public is encouraged to come and watch the final performances, which are always entertaining, at McGrane Theatre and Central Elementary.
“I’m looking forward to the performances. The kids put a lot of work into their acts and I am always surprised by their talent,” said Weir, who adds that if local kids do well, they have the chance to go on to the provincial competition. The judging portion of the music festival starts Wednesday and the final concert will be held on April 28 at Portage College’s McGrane Theatre at 7 p.m. The second final concert will be held at Central Elementary on April 29 at 7 p.m.