FALL RIVER: Students at Joyful Sounds have brought home some hardware from the Kiwanis Music Festival, helped along by a fun Musical Olympics at the Fall River studio.
While the Kiwanis Music Festival continues, they have already earned several accolades as of April 25. There are more students who will be competing in the coming weeks at the event.
Sisters Dannie and Darcy MacFarlane of Windsor Junction were among two of the students to do well at Kiwanis. Dannie also was the top marked student for the Ultimate Olympics at the studio.
“There were a lot of people who did the same song as me at Kiwanis, so that wasn’t too good,” said Dannie. “It was still a lot of fun. The adjudicator told us what we should work on so I did that.”
For the Olympics, she said she did all of the challenges they were asked to do.
Dannie, 11, said she was surprised to get top spot for the Musical Olympics.
“It felt really good as I worked really hard on it,” said Dannie, who attends Ash Lee Jefferson.
Darcy, 8, said she enjoyed her time at Kiwanis.
“Kiwanis was a lot fun,” she said, adding she did a duet with her piano teacher. “It was my first time competing at Kiwanis. I had to practice a lot.”
When she was asked if there was a sibling rivalry to see who was better, both girls nodded and smiled in agreement.
“Yep there was,” she said.
Jenna Haverstock of Fall River said she has a lot of fun during the Ultimate Olympics.
“It helped em improve my piano playing so it was definitely something good for me to do,” said the Ash Lee Jefferson School student. “It’s cool to watch everyone’s progress.”
Michael Arbou, Office Manager/Drum Instructor, said there’s been great responses from the adjudicators who are overseeing the students.
“We’ve had several placements already and more to come because we have a lot more performance left to do,” he said.
He said the students have been prepared all year for the Kiwanis Festival, because they understand its importance.
“That’s one of the main reasons we do our musical Olympics in February, before Kiwanis start,” he said. “
Being able to memorize pieces and work on the Kiwanis piece with the rewards we provide here at the studio prepares them for an excellent performance at the festival.”
All students at the school take part in the musical Olympics, while only those in piano; voice; and band take part in Kiwanis.
He said the success for the kids means everything.
“It means they’re getting a sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement, and ti sets them up with a lot of confidence,” said Arbou.
Dannie explained why she likes coming to Joyful Sounds for music lessons.
“They teach you things about music and I have a really good teacher that teaches me stuff,” said Dannie. “It’s really fun. It’s not just something I’m doing to do, it’s actually something I like.”
