Sudbury Music Festival (formerly the Kiwanis Festival of Sudbury) completes its 78th edition
One hundred and eighty emerging musicians and vocalists participated in two hundred and eleven classes between April 4th and April 13th. On April 29th, the Festival invited 17 of the participants to perform at the annual Stars of Excellence concert and Awards Ceremony at St. Andrew’s Place.
“I was thoroughly impressed by the enthusiasm, dedication, talent and musicianship exhibited by so many of our students!” says Festival co-ordinator Louis Simão.
Forty-seven financial awards were presented to instrumental musicians and vocalists who achieved high marks. These include: Andrew Lian, winner of the Kiwanis Music Festival Scholarship Award for senior strings; Ella Koskela, winner of the Saari Family Memorial Award for senior musical theatre; Jacob Zhong, winner of the Saari Family Memorial Award for senior piano; Nickel City Wind Ensemble, winner of the Alan Biggs Memorial Award; and Young Sudbury Singers, winner of the Chrissie Nemis Memorial Award for community choir.
“We thank the participants’ parents and teachers for their support and encouragement, the adjudicators for their feedback and recommendations, and especially Festival Coordinator Louis Simão for all his work behind the scenes” says festival board chair Ralph McIntosh.
The Festival board also thanks the community for its continued generous support. Sponsors for the 2024 Festival were Dr. Christine Pun, Downtown Sudbury BIA, Greater Sudbury Utilities, The Lougheed Foundation, Sudbury Credit Union, City of Greater Sudbury, Diana Holloway, A & J Home Hardware, Peggy Wong, Christine Visser, AddFx Graphics (Amy Desjardins) and the Clarion Hotel Sudbury.
Musicians who have been invited to compete at the provincial level are: Jazz Sudbury Youth Band (community band), Nickel City Wind Ensemble (community band), Lockerby Composite School Wind Ensemble (secondary school concert band), Lockerby Composite School Concert Band (secondary school concert band), Jeronimo Vasquez (intermediate woodwinds), Gavin Wong (intermediate percussion), Karina Felhaber (junior strings), Amber Sevigny (junior strings), Maley Song (junior strings), Selena Le (junior strings), Vilma Tuunainen (junior strings), Yvonne Gao (intermediate strings), Patrick Reichle (intermediate strings), Yiwei Zhang (intermediate strings), Max Gould (intermediate strings), Chenan Lyu (intermediate strings), Sarah Lian (intermediate strings), Andrew Lian (senior strings), Vishnu Nair (junior guitar), Jaden Harrison (senior guitar), Cecilia Chen (junior piano), Cooper Haywood (junior piano), Isaac Le (junior piano), Leif Jones (junior piano), Anastasia Presenza (junior piano), Kaylin Yu (junior piano), Maley Song (junior piano), Emmie Kolari (junior piano), Hanning Ye (intermediate piano), Hannah Palahnuk (intermediate piano), Veronica Longe (intermediate piano), Ewan Huang (intermediate piano), Levi Gonder (intermediate piano), August Zhao (intermediate piano), Sophia Cecutti (intermediate piano), Victoria Palahnuk (senior piano), Jacob Zhong (senior piano), Algonquin Road Public School Elementary Primary Choir (school choir), Algonquin Road Public School Elementary Junior Choir (school choir), Larchwood Public School Junior Choir (school choir), Young Sudbury Singers (16yrs & Under community choir), Audrey Li (junior classical voice), Riah Venkadesan (junior classical voice), Karine Plante (junior classical voice), Alexis Lamontagne (junior classical voice), Kalyani Nair (senior popular voice), Adele Bishop (elementary musical theatre), Taniah Venkadesan (elementary musical theatre), Alexis Lamontagne (elementary musical theatre), Rain King Gold (intermediate musical theatre), Ella Koskela (senior musical theatre), Kalyani Nair (senior musical theatre).
The Sudbury Music Festival motto is: “At festivals the goal is not to gain a prize, nor defeat a rival, but to pace one another on the road to excellence”. Although most of the classes at the festival are indeed competitive, Sudbury Music Festival also offers non-competitive options. The Festival Board congratulates all participants on their efforts, encourages them to continue their training, and wishes them well in their future musical endeavors.
Please contact Festival Coordinator Louis Simão at for all inquiries.