Welcome to the 2009 Cantando Festival website.

What is the Cantando Festival?

A non-competitive festival designed for North American school wind ensembles, concert bands, jazz bands, and choirs utilizing some basic tenets necessary to promote quality music education. These basic tenets include:

  • Promoting REPERTOIRE OF THE HIGHEST ARTISTIC NATURE – both in the selections expected for performance as well as repertoire performed by guest ensembles
  • EVALUATIONS AND CLINICS are all designed to cultivate growth and a love of serious music-making utilizing a realistic, yet musical approach to assist with improved musical performance
  • UTILIZING THE BEST TEACHER/PERFORMERS – people that understand both kids and music and the critical combination of inspiration, knowledge, and artistic growth are the only ones that work for this festival
  • EXPOSING STUDENTS TO PERFORMANCES BY SERIOUS ENSEMBLES – we've included both university and professional groups of the highest level and specified the repertoire we want performed. Both standard repertoire of significant worth and new and substantial pieces will be performed including quality works for professional soloists
  • SUFFICIENT TIME FOR PERFORMANCE AND CLINICS – 20 minutes of performance/setup time for Class 2 and 3, 30 minutes for Class 4, 5, and 6 Concert Bands, 30 minutes for all jazz bands and choirs. 50 minute ensemble workshops occur the day following your performance (concert band) or directly after your performance (choirs and jazz ensembles) as well as 50 minute specific instrumental and vocal workshops are available in the early morning and early afternoon each day.

    Under the direction of DR. DENNIS PRIME, the festival emphasizes repertoire of a musical nature – repertoire that introduces and expands the musical horizons of all students involved.

    The schedule allows musical groups:

  • An opportunity to perform on a great stage in one of North America's finest music halls
  • Opportunities to hear the performances of other school groups in a professional venue
  • Evaluation by the finest adjudicators familiar with the level of performance
  • Lengthy ensemble clinic sessions
  • Evening performances featuring major performing ensembles with guest artists sponsored by the music industry
  • 50 minute instrumental clinic sessions on flute, clarinet, double reed, saxophone, trumpet, horn, trombone, low brass, double bass and percussion occur daily with junior high level in the morning and senior high in the afternoon.
  • Opportunities to hear performances by professional and student virtuosi throughout the day including solos and ensembles as well as exciting performances by contemporary classical musicians.

What Makes Cantando Special?

The Cantando Festival employs only adjudicators and clinicians of the highest stature, those that have achieved success in their fields and those that continue to have a major impact upon music education. The opportunity to work with these artists in an educational setting for long periods of time is a major facet of the festival. In the past artists have included Allan McMurray from the University of Colorado, Eugene Corporon from the University of North Texas, Thomas Dvorak from the University of Wisconsin, Dale Lonis and Fraser Linklater from the University of Manitoba, William Street, Fordyce Pier, Leonard Ratzlaf from the University of Alberta, Marvin Eckroth and Dean McNeill from the University of Saskatchewan as well as a host of other prominent music educators. Performing ensembles have included ensembles from all of the major western Canadian universities as well as groups from the American Midwest. Several local professional ensembles are featured also.

WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR AT THE FESTIVAL? (continue to check here for further updates)

SEVERAL THINGS!

LIKE INSTRUMENT MASS CHOIRS: We are starting a series of mass concerts with like instruments that will rehearse during the festival and perform at the Winspear that evening (much like we do with the mass choirs). Music will be available on our website and you can simply download it and give it to the appropriate students to learn BEFORE the festival. This year we will feature the Clarinets on Monday evening and Trumpets on Tuesday evening. Next year we will choose different instruments (flutes and horns perhaps) and simply change each year, offering a variety of performers a chance to play in a like-instrument ensemble. Rehearsals are scheduled twice during the day, once at the U of A during lunchtime and again in the early evening (6:30) at the Winspear. Directors should encourage all students to participate as the music has been arranged to accommodate all skill levels. Directors should review the music and assign an appropriate part to each student. Students should prepare the music before the festival and feel secure with all aspects of the music as rehearsal time is precious. Music will be online to download early fall 2008. This should be great fun!

ADDITIONAL MASTERCLASSES: We have added a couple more masterclasses (Improvisation and Vocal Masterclasses) and made the instrumental masterclasses more of a demonstration class than participation class this year.

NOON HOUR INSTRUMENTAL CLINICIAN RECITALS: We have also added the opportunity for students to hear the artists doing the masterclass in performance. I have scheduled 30 minute (ie. 3 performers each performing no more than 10 minutes worth of accessible music) recitals at 12:15 each day of the masterclasses. I strongly encourage you to bring your students to these . . . I have asked the recitalists to perform music that might be performed by both junior and senior high school students at the local solo festival . . . stuff that your kids can relate to and might even already know!!

It is mandatory that students attend instrumental masterclasses the same day as the band adjudication workshop. We have placed these masterclasses just around the noon hour session so you can fill up ½ day at the University quite easily.