A small group of Coast music lovers gathered at Gibsons United Church in 1973 to hold the first ever Festival of the Performing Arts, then known simply as the Music Festival. It was a chance for 30 young students to perform in front of adjudicators from off-Coast who would give valuable critique and prepare the students for rigorous music exams. It worked so well that 35 years later, it's attracting hundreds of participants and is officially the Coast's longest running festival. What's more remarkable is that many of the original organizers are still involved with music - in one case, three generations of a single family have participated in the festival.
On April 14, the Festival of the Performing Arts opens its 35th season at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt with the piano category, just as in the early years.
Barb Cattanach recalls the first festival, originally organized by the Kiwanis Club with teacher (now retired) George Cooper as liaison and committee member Betty Kennett booking the adjudicators. Barb's daughter, Heather, then eight years old, played piano. Heather Cattanach performs in the community today as Heather Beckmyer; she's grown up with music and so have her children, Stephen Beckmyer, now almost 20, and Holly Beckmyer, 17. (Stephen studied music his first year at University of Victoria and continues to play in the orchestra. Holly is active in the Coast String Fiddlers.) Barb's other daughter, Deanna Cattanach, also entered the competition in the early days, followed by her daughter, Amanda Brackett. Barb found herself, like many parents, swept into the volunteer activities and serving as an adjudicator's secretary. When the three grandchildren entered competition, it was time to remove herself from any contact with the adjudicators and retire from duties. But there was one more pleasant task to do. In April 2007, she was asked to present a trophy that had been founded in her name, the Barbara Cattanach Aggregate Achievement Award, to one young musician. The judges' choice was a surprise: Barb's granddaughter, Holly Beckmyer. The festival, a non-profit society, has always been volunteer-driven and funded by generous sponsors and audience donations. The first festivals emphasized piano and choirs, and also included speech arts and by 1981, dance. Cattanach explains that speech arts involved memorizing and reciting speeches and poems, but the category lacked fostering in the schools and was dropped. The festival required support from local music teachers to make it grow, and it was not until Katie Angermeyer taught violin to children, years later, that the strings category was introduced. Music teacher Heather Beckmyer (Cattanach) recommends the festival for her students. The spring scheduling, just before conservatory exams in June, gives the participants practical experience in front of an audience, then allows them another month to improve.
For competitors, the judging was scary. Mezzo soprano Patricia Hammond, now a professional artist living in London, remembers the experience this way: "There can be very few things as evocative to me as the smell of Gibsons United Church, the hum of its lights and the blue from the long, thin window slanting across the carpet. I think of it, and I'm there, sitting in the pews, watching the lady at the chalkboard as she looks to the adjudicator's table for her cue to write the number of the next entrant. I wonder if those ladies knew how closely they were scrutinized? Their every blink, the very flicker of an eyelash as we checked our cold, trembling hands, trying out the first phrase of our piece terrified of not remembering it."
But an adjudicator's scrutiny could also be a boost. Violinist Doreen Savien remembers when the Sunshine Coast Com-munity Orchestra performed in front of a judge in 1996 with the late Roxelyn Etheridge conducting.
"There is only one thing that is amateur about this group," wrote the adjudicator, "and that is you don't get paid to perform." The festival continues to encourage music and the arts. It also offers promising musicians trophies and scholarships, $6,000 worth annually. After opening on April 14, the festival continues for the next two weeks at various venues. For scheduled dates and times, see www.coastfestival.com or the ad in this issue on page B14. Audiences are encouraged to drop by and watch.
Editor's note: next week we continue with part two of our story as we look at a mother and daughter duet, the Andrews boys growing up with music and current festival president Sue Milne with "the best volunteer position on the Coast."
