The 67th annual Prince George music festival, piano division, came to a crescendo Saturday morning.
There were 18 duets, duos and even a trio that performed in front of Vancouver adjudicator Murray Nicol at the Free Evangelical Church on Fifth Ave., starting with preparatory, followed by junior, intermediate and senior.
Each set of piano players got to perform followed by a session with Nicol who offered a positive critique of each performance.
The only trio was Katherine Li, 17, and her sisters Nancy, 16, and Grace, who is 12 years old.
Each of the girls started playing piano when they were five years old. It started when Katherine and Nancy expressed particular interest in a little toy piano they had at home. When they each got a bit older, Katherine, then Nancy started lessons, followed by Grace years later.
The girls have had several instructors through the process of learning piano over the years and currently Katherine is being taught by Lori Elder, while Nancy and Grace are under Angela Alba's instruction.
Practice is intense at their house with each of them practicing for more than an hour each day.
How does that work with three girls wanting to practice?
"We have a grand piano in one room and an upright in another and we just tune each other out when we practice," Nancy laughed. They've been working on the festival piece since December.
The girls, who were instructed for their music festival performance piece by piano teacher Lori Elder, performed The Stars and Stripes Forever, which was a rousing finish to the session.
The girls were very impressed with the advice Nicol offered during his adjudication of their performance.
"He was really awesome," Katherine said. "He really dug deep into the music and really made us think about what are we leading to, what mood are we trying to create."
He touched on every point, Nancy added.
"Tone, pedal, dynamic - boom, boom, boom, boom, boom - he made everyone think really carefully about what they were playing," Nancy said.
The Prince George Music Festival started Feb. 19 and concluded Saturday, with a showcase of talent taking place during two concerts at Vanier Hall on March 10. The Showcase Recital takes place at 5:30 p.m. and features the best of the junior performers. Admission is free. The Gala will be held at 8 p.m. and showcases the best performances from all levels from orchestra, instrumental, vocals, choirs, choral ensembles and piano. Gala tickets are available at Studio 2880 and at the door.
