By Stephen Dafoe
Morinville – This week will see five concerts hit town between Tuesday and Saturday, four of them musical acts with plenty of experience in getting their audiences’ toes tapping. But this past weekend saw another five concerts hit town, spread over three days. The Smith Music Concert Series, an annual event that gives students a chance to perform and friends and family an opportunity to see first-hand what the students had learned, brought five shows and approximately 80 students to the stage Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But make no mistake about it, these shows were not some bite-your-tongue-and-polite-applause affair while a group of ten-year-old musicians play reed instruments producing sounds that can only be replicated when one is sacrificing a goat. These shows rocked.
After more than a decade, Paul Smith and his staff have honed the ability to mix students of differing skill levels, differing musical styles and differing instruments into a series of shows that mix the best elements of the coffee house and concert hall to produce a two-hour-long piece of musical entertainment that leaves one feeling good about themselves when they leave.
The opening show brought more than 20 performers to the stage over that two-hour period, Whether it was a toddler in a tux going note by note on his tiny fiddle to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, an 11-year-old’s highly animated performance of Roar or middle-aged man working his way through Dust in the Wind, each performer was given the same enthusiastic introduction and post-performance applause. Not because people were being polite but because each performer was part of something bigger than the individual act, a concert that showed Morinville the talent within its midst and the performer’s desire to improve those talents.
Admission to all five performances was free – however, donations to the Morinville Food Bank Society were encouraged.
VIDEO GALLERY
Below are some video highlights of Friday night’s Smith Music Concert.
PHOTO GALLERY
Click on the image below to see full-sized image, then use mouse or scroll wheel to navigate through gallery.
