Three young Cochrane area singers are heading to Edmonton for the Provincial Music Festival.
The festival, which begins May 28, is an annual event organized by the Alberta Music Festival Association, where youth singers from around the province compete against one another in various vocal categories.
Faith Stewart, 16, Ashley Schneberger, 16, and Aubrey Baux, nine, will be representing the Airdrie Rotary Festival at this year’s finals.
Stewart in the 16-and-under girls vocal solo, Schneberger in the 16-and-under girls musical theatre uptempo solo, and Baux in the 12-and-under boys vocal solo categories respectively.
Only one singer is selected from each of the numerous under-12 and under-16 vocal categories held at music festivals around the province to go to provincials.
“There are only those two age groups for provincials,” said Melanie Baux, a Cochrane-area vocal teacher who, along with instructing Stewart and Schneberger, is also Aubrey’s mother.
“When they go to the Edmonton, there will be one rep from every festival that has chosen to send one, so it is all the best singers in those age categories from across Alberta,” said Melanie. “You get a pretty wide range.”
It is the first time that three singers from the Cochrane area have gone to provincials in the same year.
“I can’t recall there ever having been three singers from around here going to Provincials at the same time since I’ve been teaching,” said Melanie.
“There was one singer from Cochrane last year, but three is unheard of. It’s a huge honour.”
It is also the first time that any of the three singers have gone to provincials.
“I can’t wait,” said Aubrey, who will be singing two songs — Japanese folk song, ‘Sakura,’ and ‘Children’s Prayer,’ — in his section.
“Aubrey has just turned nine and he is in the 12-and-under boys section (where most of the singers are 11-12 years old),” Melanie said.
“So he will definitely be the youngest in the group, but he’s a good little singer.”
“All you can do is do your personal best, and put it all on the line,” said Stewart, who will be performing two classical pieces (‘Fruhlingslied,’ ‘Lullaby’) in her respective group.
“There’s a lot of competition, but we’ll try our best,” said Schneberger, who will be singing, ‘I’m not that smart,’ a piece from William Finn’s one-act musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, during the festival.
“It’s an honour to represent Cochrane and area.”
