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Daphne Charrois wins St. Albert Rotary Music Festival’s Lyle Moore Scholarship

Awards will be handed out at Encore! at the Arden on April 24

PREVIEW

Encore!

St. Albert Rotary Music Festival

Wednesday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Arden Theatre

5 St. Anne Street

Tickets: $15. Call Arden box office at 780-459-1542 or www.ticketmaster.ca

Additional fees apply online

 

Legal’s girl wonder, Daphne Charrois, 18, has developed her skills in a variety of musicals from Sound of Music and James and the Giant Peach to Emma! A Pop Musical and Seussical.

Her six years of hard work coupled with a beautiful, lyrical soprano voice paid off. The triple threat completely charmed St. Albert Rotary Music Festival adjudicators.

They unanimously nominated Charrois as recipient of the prestigious 2019 Lyle Moore Scholarship, valued at $1,000. She will be honoured at Encore!, a celebratory evening capping off the festival, on Wednesday, April 24, at the Arden Theatre.

“I was surprised to receive the scholarship. The others were more classically trained, but my style was different from everyone else’s. It was so cool. You don’t often see musical theatre being nominated,” said Charrois.

Currently, she is rehearsing the lead role of Janet van de Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone mounted at the end of May through Citadel Theatre’s Young Companies.

However, she is due to graduate from Morinville Community High School in June and plans to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City in the fall. Tuition and residence fees total $80,000 per year.

Although Charrois has saved money, the festival scholarship is crucial to fuelling her ambitions.

“I’m so honoured. The festival is incredible in what they do for so many kids. It’s so important. We see a lot of support for sports, but this festival has helped me grow. This award is so important and it means the world to me that they’re willing to support people’s dreams.”

Charrois is also one of eight festival acts pulled from the estimated 1,800 registrants of choirs, bands, soloists, duets and family music that will perform at Encore! She performs one of her favourite ballads – This Is A Journey From the Past from Anastasia.

Other vocalists performing at Encore! include Memorial Composite Mixed Ensemble, musical theatre singer Adam Skogstad and vocalist Shae Lupaschuk.

Interspersed throughout the evening are instrumental works from pianist Ailey de Witt, a violin duet with Annika Boddez and Sophia Lydiatt, pianist Katrina Berger and fiddle player Kelty Epp.

During the second part of the evening, more than 150 artists and musicians will receive about $13,000 in scholarships, bursaries and awards.

“We want to recognize excellence in performance as well as provide any child with the opportunity to be assessed by professional musicians who have national and international qualifications,” said Encore! host and past president Dr. Alan Murdock.

This year, the festival has seen an uptick in aspiring musicians recommended to provincials.

“One of the interesting things is that usually 20 to 25 performances go to the provincials. This year, it’s 32,” said Murdock.

“Our choirs are particularly strong this year. We’ve recommended seven choirs this year – Vital Grandin Choir, École Meridian Magic Voices, École Meridian Grade 5 and 6 Choir, Memorial Composite Mixed Ensemble, Elite School of Music Children’s Choir, Sturgeon Composite Concert Choir and Sturgeon Composite Vocal Jazz. This reflects the skill of the young people we’ve got.”

Murdock encourages anyone with a passion for music to attend Encore!

“It’s fun. You’re going to hear excellent, high-calibre music. You’re looking at children playing at the provincial level of expertise. Performers are selected by adjudicators for their entertainment value as well as the quality of music. It’s just a very nice evening of emerging singers and musicians.”

 

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