It takes a lot of work throughout the year to make the Kiwanis Music and Speech Arts Festival a success year after year.
 “Lethbridge has a really big music scene. People don’t realize that,” observed Leroy Cranston, a long time volunteer who is not only a familiar face at the Yates Centre for the two weeks of the festival, but is also a busy bee behind the scenes helping get everything organized for the event.

The festival features over 5,000 performers from the Lethbridge area including individual school band members, plus approximately several hundred volunteers helping out in every aspect from the day-to-day operation of the festival from the logistics of getting the performers to the venues, selling advertising  in the program, to arranging parking issues with the city, plus all of the work behind the scenes organizing the event beforehand so it runs smoothly for these two weeks.

“It’s a lot of work, but if we didn’t have these volunteers and sponsors, the cost would be prohibitive. We also co-ordinate the scholarship fund,” said Cranston, who has been volunteering for the festival for close to 20 years. This year, he is running the canteen at the Yates Centre as per usual, but in the past  years, has done everything one can do for the festival.

“It the marshal can’t make it, then I can do it,” he said adding there is less interest in volunteering for service clubs today.

The Kiwanis Speech and Arts Festival features about 5,000 performers performing over the span of two weeks in a variety of categories from musical theatre, speech arts, bands, solo instrumentation, choir and a lot more between April 4-16 at several different venues including the Yates Theatre, Southminster United Church, St. Augustine's Hall, Library Theatre Gallery, Sterndale Bennett and St. Patrick’s Fine Arts School.

“It used to be everyone was part of a service club. It isn’t so today. It used to be part of the performance review at your job. They asked if you were part of a service club,” he said.
“Lethbridge doesn’t have a money problem, it has a people problem. There’s money here, you just have to know how to get it,” he said adding the fundraising aspect is one of his many pre-festival responsibilities.
“The Kiwanis Club wants to change the world one child at a time,” he said adding supporting this festival is one way to do it. They also sponsor a variety of other projects to meet that goal including the Lethbridge and District Music and Speech Arts Festival endowment program as Safety City which helps educate children about safety.
“They are terrific kids. Some of them just started playing an instrument in September when the school year began and this is their first concert ever,” he continued adding it is a pleasure to watch them grow as musicians and performers every time they participate in the festival.

“The purpose of the festival is to support their professional development, so they’re professionally adjudicated,” he continued adding their teachers and parents deserve a lot of credit.
“There is a lot of talent in Lethbridge. They are getting great musical instruction. I’m just one of many people,” he said.
“We have young people just in high school singing opera in Italian. There]s quite a cross over in talent here,” he continued.

“Moms and dads can only do so much, they pay for music lessons and instruments and they’re asked to volunteer for school fundraising and a lot of other things,” he said adding that is why it is so important or the Kiwanis club to help any way they can.

“People don’t take as much time to join service clubs today. But we’re very fortunate we have a nest of volunteers who aren’t members of the Kiwanis Club, but who still are willing to volunteer their time for this festival just because they want to be part of the music world,” he continued.

“ This thing doesn’t just happen. There is a lot of work involved behind it.”
The festival continues this week with band, piano, solo instruments, culminating with the Stars of the Festival Concert, April 16. It is at 7:30 p.,m. at the Yates Centre, featuring the best performers from the past two weeks. Admission is five dollars each or $15 for a family.

A version of this story appears in the April 13,2011 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times

{jcomments on}