Following the adjudication of this year’s Creston Festival of the Arts, five performers were recommended to either compete or observe at the Performing Arts BC provincial festival, which will be held May 26-30 in Powell River.
For the second year in a row, Alec Hammond was recommended to compete in the Junior B piano category. For speech arts and drama, Skylar Eyre and Tierney Hula were selected to compete in, respectively, the intermediate and senior speech arts categories, with Destiny Geddes (intermediate) and Emily Pinto (senior) recommended as observers.
An audience at the Prince Charles Theatres was treated Sunday afternoon to their performances, as well as other winners’, as the Stars of the Festival Showcase, a wrap-up to the 10th annual festival put on by the Creston Valley Music Teachers’ Association.
After 19 performances by strings, piano and drama competitors, cash prizes were presented to:
Strings: Cory Hammond (best overall), Logan Penner (primary), Emma Penner (intermediate), Logan Ham-mond (intermediate), Skylar Eyre (advanced), Noelle Lavallee (adjudicator’s choice), Velvet Strings Inter-mediate (ensemble) and Megan Bibby (concerto);
Piano: Alec Hammond (best overall), Drew Weaver (primary), Karen Blackmore (intermediate), Emma Penner (intermediate), Noah Koehoorn (advanced), Hannah Ryckman (adjudicator’s choice), and Hammond and Penner (ensemble); and
Drama: Skylar Eyre (intermediate), Tierney Hula (senior), Emilie Pinto (adjudicator’s choice) and Destiny Geddes and Nathan World (performing group).
Piano winners (clockwise from left) Karen Blackmore, Noah Koehoorn and Hannah Ryckman, Alec Hammond and Emma Penner, Rasmus Knudsen.
Speech/drama winners (clockwise from top left) Nathan World and Destiny Geddes, Tierney Hula, Emilie Pinto, Skylar Eyre.
Strings winners (clockwise from top left): Skylar Eyre, Cory Hammond, Noelle Lavallee.
Strings winners Logan Hammond (left) and Logan Penner.
The Velvet Strings intermediate ensemble.
The Velvet Strings advanced ensemble.