The surprises at last Sunday's festival highlights concert were all good ones.
The three-hour concert, a showcase for 38 of the 400 participants of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Performing Arts, opened with rock music from Matt Joubert and Dylan Brackett to the surprise of the audience who were expecting classical melodies. Joubert has been raised in a home of classical music, and is now writing and performing his own popular tunes.The full house at the Raven's Cry Theatre was reminded that dance is also included in the festival. Stop My Tears was performed by students of Danceworks, followed by younger dancers Clara Cassidy and Ashley Mason, who drew tumultuous applause for their innocent and delightful My Favourite Doll. Highland dancer Tara McLeod was also featured in a solo.The next good surprise was how much the students have grown musically over the years. Highlights included Holly Beckmyer, who has developed each year in her performance ability. The Strang siblings, Talia and Kiel, are remarkable. Neal Andrews, who will be leaving the Coast soon for university studies, demonstrated his skill on a trumpet concerto by Haydn. Felix Savien-Rankin on violin was particularly enjoyable, while William McConnell displayed his ability on piano. The chamber trio of Liam Bonser, Kiel Strang and Oliver Gidora showed themselves as versatile musicians.
Emily Wood is a fine young pianist who shone on Mozart's Fantasie in D Minor. She accompanied some of the other students, and then she and Henry Wood closed the show. Two mother/daughter duets, one vocal and one piano, were also featured, along with a dad and daughter combo, Ruby and Mark Riesco. Young Esme McLaughlin-Brooks played fiddle in a lively performance of My Uncle's Pockets by Oliver Schroer.
Submitting an original composition at the festival is risky business, since the musician must also score the music for the adjudicator. Alexis Toigo performed her composition, Melody for Marie, and at a previous piano encore concert, Rosalee Stavroff performed her own piece, Pook's Waltz. Very few adults appeared in this three-hour show, but one who stood out was Edward Arceo singing a gentle, poignant Bring Him Home.
Festival president Sue Milne thanked the conductor of the Choralations Children's Choir, Janice Brunson, for her work over the years and expressed regret that Brunson would soon be retiring from her position.
Awards and bursaries were handed out at the end of the concert to approximately 50 participants. The recipients are listed on the festival's website at www.coastfestival.com.
