About Us
A Little History...
In 1927, Andrew Dunsmore organized a group of interested people to discuss the need for a festival in the central and upper island area. With the assistance of Mr. R.T. Coveney, this idea became a reality with the first annual competition being held May 17 - 18, 1928 in St. Andrew's United Church. This first Festival had 125 entries in choral, vocal, instrumental and elocution (speech) classes. Folk Dancing was added in 1930.
The Festival was temporarily discontinued, due to World War II, in 1943. In 1955 Mr. Dunsmore and other interested citizens revived the Festival adding tap, maypole dancing, piano and accordion to the list of entries. In 1960 the first Honours Performance was held at Nanaimo District Secondary. The first Dance Gala was in 1984 at Beban Park Social Centre.
Present Day
The Upper Island Musical Festival has grown to over 2000 entries and 3600 participants. The majority of our competitors come from within our geographic area of Bowser B.C. to Ladysmith, B.C. but a growing number are attending from other areas of Vancouver Island. Today's Festival has sections in piano, brass and woodwind, strings, vocal, speech and dramatic art and dance. The Festival offers all participants an opportunity to perform and appreciate the performances of others.
The Upper Island Musical Festival Association is a self-supporting, non-profit society registered under the Societies Act of British Columbia. Membership is open to anyone upon payment of a small annual fee. All members are volunteers.
Revenue is derived from participant entry fees, membership dues, paid admissions, and donations to the Patron Fund and a Bursary Fund. Each year the Upper Island Musical Festival gives out approximately $13,000 in bursaries to deserving participants.
Aims of the Association
The general purpose of the Upper Island Musical Festival is to advance, promote and develop Musical Competition Festival movement and to encourage generally the study and practice of the art of music, dancing and the speech arts.
We quote from the Digest Report of the Federation of Canadian Musical Festivals: "Competition is essential in the conduct of a Festival. No non-competitive means can raise the same standard of performance to the same degree or create the same interest in striving to attain the highest levels of performance and appreciation. Competition is a means to an end and is not to be stressed to the exclusion of the Festival spirit. It is a means of pacing one another on the road to excellence and is to arise above rivalry."
The Festival spirit may be defined as the joy of participating with others in seeking the highest levels in the art of music and kindred arts.
Inculcating this spirit in competitors, audience and the community is a prior claim on all those responsible for the operation of the Festivals.
Mission Statement
“We envision a world that appreciates music, speech and dance.”
We provide a step in the journey towards excellence in performance with educational opportunities for students and teachers. We strive to develop well rounded individuals with positive life and performance skills who will give their gifts back to the community, ensuring that the arts will continue to flourish.
Appreciation
The Upper Island Musical Festival greatly appreciates the support and co-operation of all those who help to make the Festival an outstanding event in the cultural life of the community. We are particularly proud of the fact that all our workers are volunteers. Without them, the Festival could not operate. Thank you to the music stores and businesses in each community for handling the syllabus, programmes and entry forms.
The Upper Island Musical Festival is Affiliated with Performing Arts B.C. and the Federation of Canadian Musical Festivals.
