Kamloops Festival of the Performing Arts
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The Kamloops Festival of Performing Arts (KFPA) is an arts competition held yearly between February and March in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. It is a member organization in the Performing Arts BC Association of Regional Festivals and Federation of Canadian Music Festivals. The KFPA is managed by a Board of Directors from the community and funded by donations, competition fees and audience entrance fees. The competition is open to music students of all ages from Kamloops and the B.C Interior region.
[edit] KFPA today
The 74th annual KFPA was held from February to March, 2007. Hundreds of arts students competed in the following categories: choral, dance, instrumental, piano, speech & theatrical arts, strings and voice at a variety of venues throughout Kamloops.
The Festival is divided into age groups and classes within each discipline, defined by musical genre or type. For example, voice classes include folk song, art song and musical theatre, with separate competitions for various ages of student. Each class includes multiple competitors, who perform one piece per class. Each performer is then critiqued by an adjudicator (usually an established artist or instructor from outside the community), who assigns a grade to the performer. The performer with the highest grade receives first place in that class, and recognition is also given to those with the second- and third-highest marks.
Adjudicators and others also hold discipline workshops, in which competitors are given the opportunity to improve their skills.
Competitors are eligible for numerous corporately- and privately- donated awards, trophies and scholarships, the most coveted of which is the Kamloops Symphony Award. This is given to the best-judged performer in the Awards Concert that concludes each Festival.
[edit] Festival history
The idea of a regional music festival in Kamloops was first brought up by a group of businesspeople in 1930. After intense fundraising, the first Festival was held in May 1931. The Festival became an official organization in 1932 under the name Yale Cariboo Music Festival. The Festival continued until 1939, when it was put on hold during World War II.
The Local Council of Women succeeded in reviving the Festival in 1948, with new disciplines. From 1963 on, the Festival continued to grow, with 2,000 entries in one year. The name was changed to its current form in 1982.
