The Coast's 39th annual Festival of the Performing Arts closed last Sunday with the highly anticipated Festival Highlights Concert that featured 19 acts by youthful musicians and dancers.
Two dance ensembles opened the show with a high-energy program. The music that followed featured some of the younger performers such as Sora Shibasaka and Ariana Mason who played their violins well. Jocelyn Eyre dressed for the part in a Swiss maiden costume to receive a huge round of applause for her vocals on The Lonely Goatherd. Stephanie Schweighardt sang another lovely vocal solo while Oliver Gidora gave a stirring rendition of The Vagabond. Maya Broeke chose a piece, Pacoca (Churo) by local musician Celso Machado for her flute solo.
One of the young violinists, Jasmine Fitzsimons, even wrote her own piece of original music, Dance With Me, which she played and sang along with adult accordionist Donna Schmirler.
The Piano Encore concert that wraps up the first week of the festival's adjudication took place the week before, but the audience was treated to Talia Strang and Julie Shibasaka playing classical piano. The show closed with great applause for Axel Loitz and Connor Lindsay's guitar duet on Wish You Were Here.
Host Kerry Mahlman talked about the many hours contributed by volunteers to the performing arts, including the all-volunteer festival, and how that support brings an increased sense of community and shapes our values.
After the concert, almost 100 scholarships, awards, and medallions were given out to the many performers in all categories. The festival is supported by individuals, businesses, churches, community organizations and by the donated funds given at the door. More about the society can be found at www.coastfestival.com.
