a re-print from “The Record”
“Stop!” is a TV show on Videotron’s community cable network Vox (channel 9) out of Granby, and features young local musicians from the area playing different genres of music.
For the past three years “Stop!”, produced by Radio Communautaire Missisquoi (RCM / CIDI 99.1 FM) in conjunction with Télévision Communautaire de Waterloo, has presented 18 bands to date in a televised battle of the bands. The criteria for becoming a contestant are: the artist has to be an independent artist, perform original compositions and be able to play live in studio in front of TV cameras.
This year, from the beginning of September right up until the third week of December, the producers of “Stop!” will be presenting for the first time the “Stop!” piano competition. The show will feature six classically trained piano students from the area vying for $1, 000 of scholarship prize money for the benefit of furthering their musical education; 1st place $500, 2nd place $350 and 3rd place $150. There will also be a public choice award decided by people who go to Radio Communautaire Missisquoi’s website (www.rcmmedia.org) and place their votes in an online voting booth.
For the piano competition the contestants are chosen by RCM’s organizing committee and must play two pieces of music live in CIDI’s studio on RCM’s Steinway grand piano in front of the “Stop!” cameras. The performances will be aired as well on CIDI community radio’s classical music show Mes Albums Classiques, which airs Sunday mornings from 9am to11am and again on Friday evenings from 10pm to midnight, hosted by Guy Côté, who is the host of the piano competition. It’s a very “PBS” type of show, akin to Masterpiece Theater.
Côté, a resident of Knowlton, has been a CIDI volunteer/host for about a year and has recorded 33 shows not including the eight episodes of Stop! for the piano competition that will be on TV this Fall.. “Giving has to be fun,” he says, referring to his volunteer activities. “If not for music I’d be totally crazy by now. I think RCM is fantastic, has a great team and is a lot of fun.”
Having been in the public service in Ottawa for most of his professional life, Côté has worked in many government departments throughout his career. Most notably Foreign Affairs, Communications and the Privy Council.
The Privy Council Office is the hub of non-partisan, public service support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet and its decision-making structures. The Clerk of the Privy Council is the top civil servant of the country and Côté was Assistant Clerk. Needless to say, all of us at RCM are pleased to have Côté as a volunteer and member.
Guy Côté interviewing 12 year old contestant Pascalin Naud.There are six judges who will decide the outcome of the competition: Miklos Takacs – university music professor and choir director at UQAM, Guylaine Charbonneau – piano teacher at École de Musique Classique Granby H-Y, Joanne Corriveau – piano teacher from Cowansville, Jean Wiedrick – professional musician and piano teacher from Granby, Dale Bartlett – retired pianist from Montreal and Linda Bertrand – pianist from Cowansville.
The judges will evaluate the contestants’ performances under three categories each worth 10 points for a total of thirty: Rhythm and Technique, Interpretation and Performance.
This year the contestants are: Adélaide Ménard-Tremblay, Pascalin Naud, Véronique Hamel, Emilie Dion, Camélia Daudelin and Elizabeth Daudelin.
RCM is a non-profit organization devoted to developing the arts in the Eastern Townships and owns and operates community radio station CIDI 99.1 FM in Knowlton. Over the past year RCM has acquired a Steinway grand piano and is in the process of building a small concert venue called Radio Village Hall (in French – Salle Radio Village) at its Knowlton facility in order to produce TV and radio productions in front of live audiences. The piano competition performances were recorded on the Steinway over the course of the summer and all six contestants will be back to perform in a gala performance this coming November in the Knowlton concert room. The scholarship prizes, along with the public choice award will be awarded that same evening.
Without the arts, communities suffer, and with them they prosper. RCM hopes you will enjoy the “Stop!” shows and support our efforts to develop the arts in the Townships.
RCM volunteers devote their time and energy to produce radio, TV and special events on weekends, late hours and holidays whenever they are needed. They are committed to the concept of community development. Each time we develop a new show or produce an event we promote our community, increase its visibility and increase our confidence. We are actually a multi-media circus and production team. You gotta love it!
For more information on how you can become a member and participate in RCM’s local Townships community radio station CIDI and its other multimedia projects, please call us at 450-242-9873 / 1-888-539-2098 or go to our website: rcmmedia.org.
The photo is courtesy of CIDI.
Maurice & Tanya Singfield are RCM volunteers.
Tags: Granby, Guy Côté, Pascalin Naud, piano competition, STOP!, Videotron, Vox, Waterloo
