Endorsements

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Some Positive Feedback from Teachers and Parents

April 2022:

Great festival this year! My nephew played in it for the first time. What a neat experience as my sister and I used to play in the festival when we were his age!  –Festival teacher and former participant.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in coordinating the festival and making it a huge success again!  –Festival teacher

Thank you so much for putting in all these registrations and for organizing this year’s festival. It was really a tremendous experience for my children and we are vey excited that they have been recommended to Provincials! We are very grateful for the local Music Festival. –Festival Parent

April 2021:

I just wanted to thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity. I really enjoyed adjudicating the ukulele performances. I also wanted to thank you for all that you do for this festival. It sounds like it is very well organized and attended. It wouldn't be possible without people like you. –Ukulele Adjudicator

Hello and thank you again for a wonderful experience. It was a pleasure meeting and working with you, the Board representative, fellow adjudicators and the very talented young musicians. –Lyle Moore Adjudicator

Thank you for pulling off a historical first and organizing an online music festival for the kids this year! I'm very appreciative that they didn't have to miss two years of a great learning event. Also, I very much appreciated the quality of the adjudicators this year – a great blend of competency and friendliness, they created good experiences for all of my students online. –Piano Teacher

Thank you for all your amazing hard work to pull off this Herculean feat! I can only imagine how much time and effort this is taking, and I want you to know that we really appreciate it. My daughter was very thankful for the opportunity to participate, and doubly so given the festival landscape in Edmonton has been so dry since the 2019 festivals! All the best and thanks again! –Festival parent

I just wanted to say thank you to the board, volunteers, coordinators, everyone who made the festival happen this year. I can imagine it was VERY challenging. It was an enjoyable experience and your hard work behind the scenes is very appreciated! –Festival parent

I would like to congratulate the participants and their teachers for their performances. Overall, the quality and caliber were quite high, and truly a pleasure to watch and listen to. Most of the performers were well prepared and quite polished in their presentations. I'm impressed and thinking that this generation is doing so much better than my generation was when I went through the Festival system. It truly was a pleasure! –Mireille Rijavec (Vocal Adjudicator)

Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate. It brought a bit of normalcy to an otherwise challenging year. The volunteers and videographer were excellent. And the process made the Festival fair to all participants. The accompanist we used said he was very impressed. He has done other festivals this year, and they were not as “safe” or well organized. –Parent of Spruce Grove participant

Thanks for everything and making it all work for me; it means so much! –Participant

Thank you for providing a safe and friendly place for students to perform and enhance their craft! We so appreciate all the work the whole board and Laurie have put into making this year a success. Looking forward to hearing the final concert virtually this year! –Christina Barry (Strings Teacher)

I'm just so impressed and appreciative of all the work and skill you've shown in organizing the virtual version of the SARMF. I also want to thank you for including musicians who live outside of the normal geographical area for your festival. Your efforts are amazing and a real blessing to so many during these difficult times. –Stony Plain Music Teacher

I hope everything is running smoothly for you all. Kyro and I are so grateful for the opportunity to perform in these unconventional times. Everyone was amazing the other day we came down to record. We really appreciate everyone’s time and effort. –Parent and participant from Calgary

I wanted to thank you ALL for putting this wonderful festival together and providing the kids with this amazing opportunity. Your hard work is greatly appreciated!! –Parent of Calgary participant

Thank you very much. This is an incredible amount of work for you and the other festival organizers; we really appreciate it! –Parent of St. Albert participant

Enjoy the fruits of your labour and pat yourselves on the back!! Should any hiccup come your way, I have a feeling you are just the gal to be on top of it –Karen Charlton (Musical Theatre Adjudicator)

Festival has run very smoothly for my students. Well organized! –Karla Boddez (Sturgeon County Music Teacher)

Thanks – I am so glad you chose to push forward with doing this! BRAVE — WISE CHOICE! –Kim Mattice Wanat (St. Albert Music Teacher)

“Thank you so much for running the festival. It’s giving my students something to work for and is extremely needed right now. I appreciate and value everything you do.”

November 2020:

"I cannot thank you enough for all your work with this! It's just too awesome! I am enthused about this and my students will be also!”

From 2019:

“Thank you for all your hard work in coordinating this festival. My kids thoroughly enjoyed it and were proud to be a part of it.”

“I don’t have any feedback but would like to say a big thank you! What a fantastic opportunity for the kids and the amount of work that must go into planning is so very appreciated. I can’t tell you how exciting it is for them to receive a certificate and see the pride that my daughter felt after performing violin. Her feedback was positive; even the suggestions to improve were given in a way that did not feel like a criticism because there was positive feedback given as well. A BIG thank you! Another fantastic year!”

“We love your festival. Thank you for holding it!”

“Great experience for my son for many years!”

“This is an excellent festival and me, and my students always look forward to coming every year. Thank you to everyone who helps make this festival happen!”

“The people at the reception were very welcoming. The adjudicators were amazing and very professional when explaining to the students irrespective of the children’s age. See you again next year!”

“This was the first year my daughter participated. She found the experience very beneficial.”

“I’ve been entering my students in the festival for years now! Well done!”

“Thank you for providing this educational opportunity for our students!”

“Congratulations on another successful festival!”