Quinte Rotary Music Festival celebrates 49th anniversary

Adjudicator Susanne Hughes handing out certificates to Wednesday’s beginner and junior piano participants. Photo by Jake Watson

By Joseph Carin and Jake Watson and Jessica Clement

BELLEVILLE – The 49th annual Quinte Rotary Music Festival put on by the Belleville, Trenton and Quinte Sunrise Rotary Clubs is being held this week.

The festival features performers of all ages from the area competing in categories like voice, choral, piano and strings.

“This annual festival is for the sake of the musicians who participate in them,”said returning adjudicator Susanne Hughes in an interview with QNet News. “They need to come out where they can have the opportunity to perform and present themselves publicly.

Adjudicator Susanne Hughes spoke with QNetNews about the rotary festival’s impact upon the local communities and their performers. Photo by Jake Watson

Hughes say most musical students have a tendency to shy away from competition. She thinks the music festival’s competitive nature helps the performers develop self-esteem.

“The quality of the teaching for the different performers around the area is truly outstanding. It really has been a wonderful opportunity for myself to be here listening to some really gifted youth develop and hone their musical talents. ”

One of the main goals of Rotary clubs in the region is to promote projects that bring the community together.

According to five year volunteer Vince Lynch, this festival does just that.

“It fosters and maintains a strong community experience for the children of the area who are interested in the arts. Normally I am a classic rock and roll kind of guy, but the music I’ve heard the youth perform the past five years is exquisite and have been the reason for coming back.”

The festival is spread out throughout the week at four different locations; the Eastminster United Church, the Salvation Army Church, St. Matthew’s United Church and Albert College.

Each location follows its own schedule and differ from one another. A calendar schedule may be found here and a program list here with a map of the locations shown below.

The trophy competition of the festival is set to happen Friday at St. Matthew’s United Church with all adjudicators in attendance of the performers. The first performance is at 7:30 p.m.

A piece titled Jazzin’ Jesse composed by Martha Meir and performed by junior pianist Michael Levitt on Wednesday may be listened to below.