Festival dates for AIBF 2023 are:

CONCERT BANDS - March 14 - 17, 2023
JAZZ BANDS - March 15 & 16, 2023

GET YOUR REGISTRATIONS IN ASAP SO YOU DON'T MISS OUT ON OUR RETURN TO A LIVE, IN PERSON FESTIVAL!!!

Welcome to the Edmonton Alberta International Band Festival 2023 - "Where young Albertans learn to play and play to learn." We're excited to announce that we are celebrating our 52nd year!

The Alberta International Band Festivals (both Edmonton North and Calgary South) are run by volunteers. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a performance platform for outstanding junior high/middle school, high school, and community bands. The festivals are held each year in Calgary and Edmonton. Organizers are committed to providing participants with a valuable and stimulating educational experience in a non-competitive atmosphere.

All bands are adjudicated against a standard performance rubric established by the Festival Committee. Bands receive "Superior", "Excellent" or "Satisfactory" ratings from each of two adjudicators. One adjudicator gives a written evaluation, while the other provides recorded comments of the performance. The festival also makes an archival recording for each band with no adjudicator's comments.

2023 Edmonton Festival Dates

Concert Bands Grades (All Levels): Tuesday, March 14^th through Friday, March 17th, 2023 in the Westbury Theatre at the Arts Barn in Old Strathcona Arts District., 10330-84 Avenue, Edmonton

2 adjudicators providing feedback (1 written evaluation with comments; 1 recording of the performance session with feedback)
1 archival recording of your performance
a clinic session immediately following your performance with one of the adjudicators

Jazz Band & Combos (All Levels): Wednesday, March 15th at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Center, 8426 Gateway Boulevard NW, Edmonton.

2 adjudicators providing feedback (1 written evaluation with comments; 1 recording of the session with feedback)
1 archival recording of your performance
a clinic session immediately following your performance with one of the adjudicators

WHAT'S NEW!!!

There are some pretty exciting changes happening at the Edmonton AIBF Festival this year!

CONCERT BANDS: First of all, please note our concert band festival is for ALL levels of concert band. We acknowledge that our school music programs are still in "covid recovery". We want to create an opportunity for our concert bands to perform in a great performance space for quality adjudicators and receive immediate feedback in the form of an educational clinic. Please note that we encourage all band directors to choose the performance level (grade) for their group at the level that best suits their group. This does not need to match where your groups have performed in past years or what you might regularly expect a group at that level to perform at.

Second of all, this year we are going back to all Concert Band sessions being 30 minute time slots (25 minutes on stage for your performance with 5 minutes to move on and off the stage). A reminder when you are programming music you need to allow time for introductions and for the adjudicators to finish their comments before moving on to the next piece. You may be best to target for 20 minutes worth of music.

JAZZ BANDS & COMBOS: We have moved to Wednesday and Thursday for Jazz this year to accommodate more groups being able to attend our Feature Concert on the Wednesday evening. Jazz bands will continue to be slotted in 45 minute slots which will include your performance and your workshop with the adjudicators.

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The festivals are funded by grants, corporate sponsorship, donations, entry fees and ticket sales. We invite organizations, foundations and individuals interested in supporting the Festivals to contact our Sponsorship Coordinators - Cathy MacRae and Ryan Hancock at [email protected].

For additional information about or questions concerning the Alberta International Band Festival - Calgary, please contact Director of Operations - Cathy MacRae at: [email protected].

GEORGE NIKEL

Benafactor and friend to AIBF

GEORGE NIKEL, co-founder of AIBF passed away June 26, 2022.

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the sudden loss of our beloved George Kurt Nikel on June 26, 2022 at the age of 85. He leaves behind his treasured wife Helen of over 60 years; three sons Curtis (Gwen), Kent (Marian), and Paul (Kiyomi); six grandchildren Morgan (Brendan) Fonteyne, Taylor (Bryn), Risa, Kirsten, Connor, and William; and one great-grandson Evan.

Nikel Scholarship

This past year we were pleased to be able to offer the John K Nikel Scholarship to two students – one in the North and one in the South. We had many outstanding applicants from both North and South and are pleased to announce these recipients.

What is AIBF in a "normal year"?

The Alberta International Band Festivals (both Edmonton North and Calgary South) are run by a volunteers. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a performance platform for outstanding junior high/middle school, high school, and community bands. The Festivals are held each year in Calgary and Edmonton. Organizers are committed to providing participants with a valuable and stimulating educational experience in a non-competitive atmosphere.

All bands are adjudicated against a standard performance rubric established by the Festival Committee. bands receive "Superior", "Excellent" or "Satisfactory" ratings from each of two adjudicators. One adjudicator gives a written evaluation, while the other provides recorded comments of the performance. The Festival also makes an archival recording for each band with no adjudicator's comments.

The Festivals are funded by grants, corporate sponsorship, donations, entry fees and ticket sales. We invite organizations, foundations and individuals interested in supporting the Festivals to contact our Sponsorship Director, Cathy MacRae at [email protected].

For additional information about or questions concerning the Alberta International Band Festival - North, please contact ROB SPEERS: [email protected].

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