WELCOME
​TO WINKLER FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
The 2023 festival will be held on April 17 - 21, 2023 at the Winkler Bergthaler Church. Click here for the program.
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Introducing the piano adjudicator: Tracey Regier Sawatzky.
Tracey is currently a piano instructor at Canadian Mennonite University and the Community School of Music and the Arts. She has also been an avid piano and theory instructor over the last twenty years, maintaining large teaching studios in her home in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Illinois, Ohio, and Paraguay. She has also developed a career adjudicating, giving masterclasses and accompanying a variety of soloists and choirs. After winning the Saskatchewan Valley Rose Bowl as a young pianist, Tracey moved to Winnipeg to attend Canadian Mennonite Bible College where she received her Bachelors in Church Music, Piano Performance. She continued her piano studies in Waterloo, ON, receiving her Honours Bachelor of Music with High Distinction in Piano Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University. Tracey also studied vocal and instrumental accompanying in Waterloo, as well as piano pedagogy at the Beckett School of Music in Ontario. Tracey’s students have achieved top honours with the Royal Conservatory of Music in piano and theory examinations and have won at the Piano Concerto Competition held annually by the University of Manitoba Preparatory Studies.
Tracey is an active member of the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers Association, the Canadian Music Teacher’s Association, and is an active adjudicator with the Associated Manitoba Arts Festivals.
When Tracey is not teaching or accompanying, she spends her time travelling, gardening, and spending time with her husband, David, and daughter Mikayla.
Introducing the vocal/choral adjudicator: Millie Hildebrand
Millie has enjoyed a life-long involvement in the vocal and choral arts, beginning on
the family farm where singing was a daily affair and piano and guitars were always within reach.
Familiar to Manitoba’s music community as a teacher, choral director, voice instructor and
festival adjudicator, she has taught classroom and choral music at all levels, and has been active
in implementing programs for young musicians throughout the province. These have included
collaborations with the University of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the
International Peace Gardens Music Camps, regional and provincial honour choirs, numerous
choir tours, and countless musicals. Millie was the conductor of the Faith and Life Women’s
Chorus for seven years and co-conducted the UofM Concert Choir, together with her husband
Ed, for four years, where they also worked with music teacher candidates as their Faculty
Advisors. Choirs under Millie’s direction have toured extensively in Canada and Europe, and
have been privileged to be the guests of such luminaries as the late Queen Elizabeth II, Jose
Carreras and, perhaps their favourites ---- Fred Penner and Al Simmons!
Going back “a few years”, Millie’s performance history includes productions with Manitoba
Opera, Winnipeg Mennonite Theatre, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and Canzona, to name a
few. A two-year teaching post in Bucharest, Romania provided an exhilarating adventure into
the art and culture of Eastern Europe.
Millie is co-president of the Women's Musical Club of Winnipeg and has enjoyed a lengthy
involvement with the Manitoba Choral Association. She looks forward to working with the Wpg.
1 S.D. Grade 4-6 Honour Choir in May, and to joining other conductors at the Centennial
Concert Hall in an event this July, commemorating the 100 th Anniversary of the Russian
Mennonite Emigration to Canada.
​Up Coming Festival Dates:
April 17 - 21, 2023
View the Program
Click here for the program
IMPORTANT MESSAGE!
There is a 2015 syllabus available for purchase.
A free copy is available for public use at the Winkler library or JB Music.
If you still need a copy,
contact us
VOLUNTEER
OUR STORIES
We are always looking for volunteers. No experience needed!
K. H. Neufeld
Follow the link to read more about the history of the Winkler Festival of the Arts