International Composition Festival

KANATA, Ontario, April 3, 2008 – The highlight of Music for Young Children’s year has been the International Composition Festival now in its 21st year and the largest in the world of its kind. Every year Music for Young Children students have the opportunity to participate in this festival. Children strengthen their aural, reading and harmony skills through music composition. Composing is a long term project, well worth the effort.

This year 12,710 students from across Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea took part in the festival. Compositions are judged within their level in eight different regions – Western Canada (BC, AB, SK, MB), Ontario, Eastern Canada (PQ, NS, NB, PEI, NF), United States, South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand. The first place winners of each of these regions then go on to be judged internationally.

Toronto:
Student Samantha Horwood, 4 years old, placed 1st in Ontario and 4th Internationally for her song Snowflake Dance (teacher Natalia Ryjanovskaia, MUSICA Music School 416-696-0905). Approximately 382 students took part in Samantha’s level, Sunshine 2, in Ontario and 1,025 Internationally. Natalia had another International winner with Alex Lowrie who came 1st in Ontario and 1st Internationally with Family. She is a Sunbeams 1 student with 911 competing provincially, 2576 Internationally. Christine Seaton also 4, came 2nd in Ontario in Sunshine 2 with My Kitty.

Selena Tohmé, 7 years old, placed 4th in Ontario in Sunbeams 3 with Dancing Music, competing with 704 students provincially (teacher Liselotte Jongedijk, MUSICA Music School 416-696-0905). Selena’s mother, Tania Maalouf, is also a Music for Young Children teacher in the MUSICA Music School.

Mississauga:
Jonas Irwin, 4 years old, placed 3rd in Ontario for Hungry Buldozer, competing against 655 in his Sunshine 1 level (teacher Brenda Cornacchione 905-271-0477). Brenda’s student Madelyn DeVoe, 5 years old, placed second in Ontario in Sunbeams One for My Pig Flys, competing with 911 provincially.

Johann Peter Gamini Misersky, placed 1st in Ontario for Cat and Mouse, competing with 1,031 in Sunbeams 2 (teacher Chandrika de Almeida 905-615-8637).

Esther Chee, 8 years old, placed 2nd for Littlest Pet Shops in her level of My Choice 1 competing against 269 students (teacher Esther Ng 416-816-3142). Her sister, Evangelynn Chee, 11 years old, and also in the same level placed 3rd in Ontario for A Rainy Day.

Fifteen reviewers, including world renowned British composer and recording artist Christopher Norton, played every piece. Mr. Norton said “I was one of the judges for the 2008 MYC Composition Competition and I really enjoyed the experience. There were more than 12,000 entries, and I'm sorry to say that I didn't personally see every single one. But the many entries I did see indicated that there's lots of enthusiasm and creativity among young people in Canada (and the U.S., Singapore and South Korea!). It always stood out if a student had a clear idea about the chords they really wanted to use, or wanted an effective variation in their melody or liked piano textures that were a bit different from the ones you always hear. Creative solutions stood out! The lessons they will have learned from notating their own pieces and playing around with a very specific set of notes and rhythms will lead to better listening and ultimately a love of music for life”.

The successful Music for Young Children program, with corporate head office in Kanata, was founded in 1980 by Frances Balodis. The program, taught in small groups with adult and child both participating, includes piano instruction, singing, rhythm ensembles, sight reading, ear training, theory and composition. MYC is taught by independent teachers throughout Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea with approximately 24,000 students enrolled this year.

For more information or a photo of these students, please contact the teacher directly.

www.myc.com. Janice Reade, Public Relations in Ottawa 613-592-7565.