The stories emerging from the 2024 Music Festival were both pleasantly surprising and heartwarming. Judges stepped forward to guide singers and assist in ensuring better performances. Assessments of young talent were positive and helpful. Performers, from choirs to soloists, almost uniformly praised the experience.
What was missing? The audience. Attendance at this year’s festival continued to decline tragically, and old traditions of singers and performers attending more of the festival’s offerings to expand their experience with the work of their peers were generally cut down to just their own performance days.
Lorraine Granderson, a retired music teacher who taught at Bishop Anstey High School and served as the musical director of the Lydians between 2017 and 2019, lamented both the shrinking audience and the smaller profile of choirs being formed in schools.
In some categories the single entrant in a music- festival category was the default winner, suggesting a festival that once expanded to meet varied interests and specialities now faces an unfortunate shrinkage in competitors.
Recalling the strong cohort of competitive choirs between the 1950s and 1980s, when there were as many as 50 choirs from primary schools participating, Ms Granderson had reason for concern, with just four primary schools competing on February 20.
There was also a distinct shortage of male competitors, with girls and young women commanding the stage. More should be done to encourage boys to participate in this field of creative expression.
But while adjudicators might have hoped for more performers on stage and more seats filled in the audience, they did not fail to take part in the event themselves. Adjudicator Nadine Gonzales gave students impromptu lessons in posture and mouth-shaping after hearing solo vocalists perform.
After listening to Holy Name Convent choir – the sole entrant in the junior religious choirs category – adjudicator Dr Richard Tang Yuk came to the stage, separated the choir by sections and asked them to sing the selection again.
Performers, conductors and teachers were uniform in their praise of this practical coaching, and felt encouraged by the constructive attention paid to their efforts. The Music Festival is a powerful tool to encourage music appreciation and uplifting standards of performance in young music talent.
For those who performed, it was a fulfilling event, but it’s also one with the potential to offer much wider reach into communities. It would be wildly optimistic to expect audiences and competitors to materialise merely because they are needed. Perhaps the next festival might be promoted and presented more widely using online media. It’s not hard to envision a YouTube channel of performances organised by category, including judges’ comments and assessments as a year-long benchmark and inspiration for future participants.
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