Our History

The Music Festival has always been about community. On the 24th, 25th and 26th of May, 1909 in Regina, the festival classes were focussed on choirs and vocal soloists. Choirs and vocalists from Regina were joined by others from across the southern half of the province: from Wolseley to Condie, from Saskatoon to Milestone. 

Volunteers organized the festival and the Lt. Governor, the Premier and the Chair of the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association handed out the medals. The last evening of the festival was held in the largest building in Regina: the rink. In 1910 more classes were added including Piano and Orchestra. In 1911, Bands, Violin, Cornet, Clarinet, Flute and Trombone were added with classes now separated into Junior and Senior. Spoken Word was always a huge class in the festival, as the schools had this in their curriculum. It took until just recently that Musical Theatre was added to the syllabus. This continues to be a very popular discipline both for the performers and the public in general.

As more and more interest in the music festival movement grew across the province, volunteers on the association board and members of communities large and small, worked throughout the year to plan and organize. The Syllabus was expanded each year. Venues had to be found large enough for the event. Registrations had to be received (by mail or telephone) and adjudicators hired. It was a large undertaking that grew and grew.

Over the years, the festival moved from Regina to Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. In reports from the 1914 festival held in Saskatoon, 8 railroad coaches arrived carrying 65 members of children’s choirs and 310 adult singers from Moose Jaw. The sleeper cars were used as hotel rooms and the railroads offered reduced fares. As it had been, and continues to be, the festival was always looking for good volunteers, great problem solvers, and ways to raise funds as well as save money.

Today there are 37 district festivals across the province, all working from the central syllabus published by the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association (SMFA). The association also produces the Provincial Festival featuring the best of the best from each of the district festivals. 

In the early years, the Regina Music Festival was held in churches, the public library, the Saskatchewan Hotel, Darke Hall, The Natural History Museum and the Mackenzie Art Gallery. Imagine the logistics! This was hardest on the accompanists who had to travel back and forth across town to support students in multiple disciplines. Finally, the festival was able to reduce the number of locations for the festival, thanks to Luther College at the University of Regina. Today we are excited to be centered at the Conservatory for Performing Arts (U of R – College Avenue campus) and Darke Hall.

Regina City Hall, 1909

So many volunteers have loyally supported us over the years. Some have specific committee assignments; others are now retired. 

Thank you for countless hours of help! (and our apologies for the many that we have missed)

Adria McCulloch, Barbara Shourounis, Bill Sgrazzutti, Colleen Murphy, Doris Lazecki, Flora Tyler, Joan Kruger, Joan Schneider, Margaret Hopkinson, Margaret Purse, Mark Preece, Rosemary Oddie, Ruth Smillie, Zina Scott, and Penny Penniston.