A 鈥渧irtual鈥� festival has its advantages.

Primarily, everyone, including family from afar, can view online most of the 178 performances entered in this year鈥檚 20th Shuswap Music Festival 鈥� the first in a virtual format.

Each performance, videoed and uploaded to YouTube, was forwarded to the adjudicators for individualized comment and critique. Performances in strings, piano and vocal are now available until June 30 for public viewing at . In addition, the full list of awards and scholarships, totalling $4,915, is posted online.

Missing from the video lineup are the school bands. Performance and adjudication are occurring live at the schools. Final results of this competition and the announcement of the SASCU Band Awards totalling $500 will occur later in May.

Although reduced in size to meet COVID-19 restrictions, the festival continues to attract a high calibre of contestants. Adjudicators selected all festival winners. Autumn Sunderland won Best of the Fest in Strings. Teslyn Bates, who is currently working on her ARCT, won Best of the Fest in Piano as well as the Klein Family Award that supports further music study at an advanced level. Cloe Afton Papworth won both the Best of the Fest in Vocal and The Mary Fowler Memorial Scholarship that recognizes excellence in vocal performance. Hilary Vukadinovic, pianist, won the Blair Borden Memorial Award. Blair Borden, a former teacher and founding member of the Shuswap District Arts Council, wished to support musicians in pursuing an education in music.

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What was it like to compete virtually? When asked, Cloe Afton Papworth responded, 鈥淚鈥檓 thankful for technology and what we are able to do. But in live performances, when you are in the same room watching others perform, you share a connection and feel the energy, the nerves. It鈥檚 exciting!鈥�

Although glad that a virtual festival could be held this year, Papworth missed seeing all the parents and friends at the sessions and Gala concert.

鈥淭he Shuswap Music Festival enables one to be a part of something bigger, something done in the community鈥� and have the community attend and connect with you, said Papworth, who graduated from high school in 2020 and plans to study Classical Voice at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

The adjudicators recommended seven students from amongst the Festival participants to compete at the virtual provincial BC Performing Arts Festival, June 1-5. They are: Teslyn Bates (Piano-Intermediate); Autumn Sunderland (Strings-Junior A); Evje Knutson (Vocal-Junior Classical); Saige Dubyna (Vocal-Intermediate Classical); Etoile Brown (Vocal- Junior Musical Theatre); Eysten Martin (Vocal-Intermediate Musical Theatre); and Cloe Afton Papworth (Vocal-Senior Musical Theatre).

Next year, hopefully, a post-Pandemic Festival will include the return of live performances, ensembles, choirs and a celebratory Gala concert for friends, family and the community.

For more information, visit ShuswapFestival.com and follow the fest on Facebook.

Submitted