The 2023 Southeast Manitoba Festival begins on Tuesday with the Vocal Discipline.  

Co-coordinator Melissa Taylor has been in the volunteer position for the past 7 years and is thrilled the festival is back, not only because they get to move the performances into a church facility, but also because anyone is welcome to come out and listen.  

"Every year we're always just so excited to see how many singers we have coming through and it's always really nice to see names that we recognize so we can see them. You know, as they grow as musicians and as their voices mature, it's always so nice.” 

Taylor says this year they have more vocal entries than they did last year. “Which is great. We're trying to rebuild our festival somewhat because you know, we had a couple of years there where we couldn't quite run it the way we wanted. So, we're kind of just trying to rebuild after all of that and numbers are up. So, it's really awesome.” 

Taylor tells us what ages of singers we can expect to hear this week.

“Our youngest category in the vocal section is 8 and under. So really, we could have a 6-year-old in there, we could have an 8-year-old, as long as you're under 8 years old you are welcome to sing. But usually, our youngest is around six. Then it goes all the way up into Grade A and Grade B which is mostly those adults who are already in a music program in a larger capacity, either in university or college or something like that. So, we have a really good range.” 

Taylor notes that the first Vocal class is on Tuesday morning, with the competition continuing into the afternoon and evening and all of Wednesday.  

“So those are all classes and students who are eligible for awards and eligible to be recommended to the provincials. Then our Awards Night is going to be on Wednesday evening. It's a great evening. To come and watch and listen.” 

She notes that Thursday morning will feature the younger singers, which Taylor notes, “is such a nice way to end our section.” 

The location for this year’s Vocal classes will be at the Evangelical Fellowship Church on Woodhaven in Steinbach, to which Taylor responds, “we're super happy to be back in a church this year for the acoustics and just like the warm feeling. We've been there previously and it's a great venue.” 

The Adjudicator for the Vocal Discipline is from the southeast and familiar to Taylor and co-coordinator, her sister, Katie Smith Schroeder.  

“Melissa Wood is actually from this area and funny enough, my sister sang against her in the festival back in the day. So, we're super happy to be welcoming a local back. We try as often as we can to pull from local talent within the province if we can.”  

Wood is currently a Music Instructor at Briarcrest in Saskatchewan. Taylor says Wood is “an incredibly accomplished vocalist professor and we're really happy to have her back.” 

Describing the Vocal Awards night on Wednesday evening, Taylors says, “That is where all of the participants who have won their classes get to come and sing again for us. So, it's a really beautiful evening of music. There will be trophies and awards given out this year, which we weren't able to do last year, which is really exciting. It's just a really lovely evening of music. I highly recommend it. If you're able to come, check it out. Besides, our performers haven't had audience members to sing for in a while. So, if we can have a nice full audience, that makes such a wonderful musical experience for them that they haven't had for a while. So, anyone is welcome to come and watch.” 

Taylor notes that before the festival begins, anyone can print off their own programs.  

“Our programs are all digital. You can find it on our website which is semf.ca. So, you can just print out whatever pages you want. You can look through the whole thing if you'd like. It's free, so if you have a printer or if you choose to, you can write down the information in a notebook, you know where people will be singing or playing or whatever. It's all available on the website.” 

Finally, ahead of the month-long festival, Taylor gives us the heads up that this year's SEMF will be basically what we remember the festival to be.  

“It's going to be the same as it always was. People are welcome to come and watch."

Bring $3 to cover entrance fee and then enjoy some great local talent.

Click the links below to find the SEMF Discipline class schedules. The programs are free to print off. 

VOCAL  Feb 21 to 23 at the Evangelical Fellowship Church, Woodhaven Ave, Steinbach

JUNIOR PIANO  Feb 28 to March 3 at the Steinbach Arts Centre, 304 2nd Street, Steinbach 

MUSICAL THEATRE  March 6 & 7 at the Evangelical Fellowship Church, Woodhaven Ave, Steinbach

CHORAL March 8 and March 17 at the EMC on Main Street, Steinbach

SENIOR PIANO  March 9, 10, 13, 14 at the Steinbach Arts Centre, 304 2nd Street, Steinbach 

STRINGS  March 11 at the Steinbach Arts Centre, 304 2nd Street, Steinbach 

 

It should also be noted that the SEMF is still in need of several key volunteer positions, including President.

For more information or to volunteer for the 2023 or 2024 SEMF please contact SEMF secretary, Jen Penner.  

Related Stories