Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festivals

Welcome to the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festivals - dedicated to the encouragement, instruction and celebration of young musicians in Greater Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.

With an esteemed heritage dating back to the Knights of Pythias in 1923, and under the attentive stewardship of the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver since 1960, ours is now B.C.'s premier music festival, offering professional adjudication to some 10,000 students in high school bands and choirs, and in the private study of classical guitar, classical voice, music theatre, piano, strings, brass and woodwinds. Several years ago, an Ethnic Chinese instruments category was added making ours a truly multi-cultural event. Especially gifted students can go on to compete at the Provincial and National levels.

In 2009, with continued support from the Vancouver Kiwanis Club, we became a separate Society. We are now delighted that new benefactors, The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group and the Robert L. Conconi Foundation, have come forward with generous sponsorship.

We know helping to foster an appreciation for music, hard work and commitment in one child positively impacts not just their lives but the future of our community and our world. That's why even when we hear a song sung a little off-key or a few missed notes -- it's all music to our ears.

Adjudicators


Dr. Michael Burch-Pesses
Michael Burch-Pesses is Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where he conducts the Wind...

Dr. Gerald King
Dr. King is Professor and Director of the School of Music at the University of Victoria where he serves as the conductor of the UVIC Wind...

Alexander Dunn
Canadian classical guitarist Alexander Dunn has performed to enthusiastic acclaim in Canada, the USA, Cuba, New Zealand, Mexico, Brasil,...

Gao Hong
Gao Hong, Chinese musical prodigy and master of the pear-shaped lute, the pipa, began her career as a professional musician at age 12. She...