Where we’ve been – There has been a music festival in Regina for 110 years! Shortly after the first festivals, the Regina Music Festival Association (RMFA) was formed, run by volunteers, with the objective of producing an annual festival. Over 600 individuals participate each year, some in multiple classes and different disciplines. In recent years there have been over a 1000 entries with participants ranging from pre-schoolers to grandparents, although the majority are from ages 8 to 20 years.
The focus of our festival is on the participant, with an objective of teaching not only musicianship but life-skills through professional adjudication and feedback on their performance(s). The adjudicators are professional musicians drawn from all parts of North America in the areas of voice, musical theatre, piano, strings, organ, brass, woodwinds, percussion, choirs and speech arts. The Regina Music Festival runs for approximately 2 weeks in mid-April to early May. Selected winners move on to compete at the Provincial finals which are held at various locations in Saskatchewan. From there, a few of the most talented compete nationally as Saskatchewan representatives.
Not for profit, but for love of the arts – The Regina Music Festival Association is a registered charitable, volunteer organization, and as such offers the usual income tax benefits to its financial supporters. Volunteers work at the festival as secretaries to the adjudicator and as door personnel. The board is a volunteer board who willingly give of their “spare time” outside of their regular employment to organize this festival of the arts.
The Regina Music Festival Association depends heavily on the donations of various organizations with Regina, and on the generosity of people like you to maintain its unbroken record of annual Festivals.