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Sunday concert kicks off festival band

First year teacher and former lakecity resident Caroline Johnson bringing honour band to festival this week.
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The Sir Alexander MacKenzie School Honour Band in Hagensborg is thrilled about coming to Williams Lake this week to perform at Cariboo Festival 2015.

Former Cariboo Festival competitor Caroline Johnson is now in her first year of teaching in Hagensborg and will be bringing the Sir Alexander MacKenzie School Honour Band to compete at the festival this week in Williams Lake.

The band, which she directs, will start off with a performance this Sunday evening, the same evening as the Williams Lake Community Band will be performing for adjudication.

Then on Monday, the Hagensborg band will join local bands for a day of adjudication with Ed Schnellert who is also a former Williams Lake resident and festival competitor.

The Sunday, April 19 concert takes place St. John Lutheran Church on Hodgson Road starting at 7 p.m. and the public is encouraged to come and enjoy both performances.

Caroline is the daughter of Cariboo Men’s Choir director and teacher Carl Johnson and his wife Sherry, who is also a teacher, piano teacher and long-time festival director.

From the age of five to 19 Caroline performed on piano at the Cariboo Festival, winning the primary award early on and the Senior Competition Award later on.

Through her Cariboo Festival years she was also involved in performing with piano duets, ensembles, and family music; and in various other festival disciplines such as speech arts, voice, choral, band, and composition.

She also taught piano in high school and entered several of her her piano students in the festival during her Grade 12 year.

Caroline represented the Cariboo Festival of the Arts and the City of Williams Lake at the Provincial Festival of the Arts seven times between 2001 and 2008 only taking time out to go to Germany as an International Rotary Exchange student.

In Neuss, Germany she won the Best Collaborative Pianist Award at their local music festival.

During Caroline’s post-secondary education at the University of Victoria, she participated in the Greater Victoria Festival of the Arts .

She also successfully auditioned to become the assistant conductor of the University of Victoria Don Wright Symphonic Winds Concert Band.

Last year Caroline taught elementary music, band, and drama at Fruitvale Elementary in the Kootenays, but is now back in the Cariboo where she can once again be part of the Cariboo Festival.

“It is amazing how great a part the Cariboo Festival has played in my life, and helped prepare me for my teaching career,” Johnson says.

Following their Sunday performance the Sir Alexander MacKenzie School Honour Band will perform for adjudication on Monday, at St. John Lutheran Church.