Submitted by
Sharron Carpenter

Spring is coming soon and with it thoughts of no more snow, baseball, seeding, warm days and many other things we wait for all winter. Some of us also wait for festival season too. The Fine Arts Festivals gives many people an opportunity to perform on stage. To do this, the participants practise their skills as much as possible because they want to do their best when they perform. There will be an adjudicator and a trophy to be won. Aiming to win a prize can give a greater sense of purpose and encourage them to work harder.

There are some people who think there should not be adjudicators for these festivals and no trophies to be won. They think it should be enough to offer a venue for performance and no one person should receive more praise than another. Other people think competition causes people to strive harder and that it brings out the best in people’s talents.

It has been said that no opinion is ever wrong. But here is a story that could be thought provoking. Katie Smith was 6 years old last year and her mother and grandmother were encouraging her to take piano lessons. They felt that music education is a benefit to any one who has the opportunity. Katie thought she would like to take lessons but she wasn’t sure what it would be like and she may have had some doubts. Her Mom and grandmother wisely gave her the option of taking the lessons but if she didn’t like them she could stop. It turned out Katie did like the lessons. She practised well and learned quickly.

She had no idea there was a music festival. She found out about it when she was encouraged to enter and she did. Her performance went well and then the adjudicator had all the competitors line up on stage and told them what the best parts of their collective performances were and what they should aim for.

Later Katie’s parants were asked to bring Katie to the Awards Festival where she would play her piece again. This time there was a much larger crowd and Katie was nervous. But again she played well. She was totally surprised when her name was announced as the winner of the Lloyd Bertram trophy for first in her class. What an exciting time that was for this little girl. All the lessons, all the practise and hard work had paid off for her.

Now Katie is more interested in her piano lessons than she ever was and she works harder than she ever did. It has been a truly great benefit to her.

So what about the other kids who didn’t win a trophy?

As Katie said, even if she hadn’t won, she still would have had a good experience and she thinks “all the other kids did too.” She thinks it was all about that wonderful experience. Winning was the icing on the cake.