We are back.  At one point, it looked like the Vermilion and District Rotary Music Festival would be another victim to COVID.  And we are not out of the woods yet.  But a dedicated group of volunteers who recognize the importance of music in individuals and in our community have come together to re-establish the festival.

 

It was gratifying to me to contact the adjudicators who were excited to be part of the resurrection of the festival.  They also are people who recognize the importance of music to our communities and to us as individuals. 

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The world of 2023 features a lot of items our great-grandparents could only dream about.  But we have lost features as well.  Where family singing and music making was once a feature of many homes, it is no longer available in many homes.  The singing that was a feature of church attendance has fallen away as church attendance declined.  Community singing and playing of a shared musical heritage drew us together.  Its loss makes us poorer and we, at Festival, hope to restore it because it is too important to allow it to die.

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Thank you for keeping your faith in the importance of music in everyone’s lives.

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Bernie Huedepohl

President