A couple of Portage la Prairie young people recently won competitions in the Provincial Music Festival. They were recommended to go to the challenge after having performed well here at home. Jessica Ramachandran performed in three categories, including piano, impromptu public speaking, and poetry and prose.

Jessica Ramachandran with two top place certificates (submitted photo)"I won my poetry and prose and my public speaking," she explains. "It was exciting. In the future, I'm probably going to continue to do speaking and then playing piano and singing."

Ramachandran spoke on the subject 'Have you ever wondered?' for public speaking, and says she spoke about, "Not to judge people on how they look and their facial deformities and so on."

Gareth Rice competed and won in the Advanced JS Bach class playing Prelude in Fugue in C Minor, and added another piece entitled Nocturne in C Sharp Major by Chopin. He notes it's pretty rewarding but he knows he needs to work harder and rise to new heights in music.

Gareth Rice at the festival (submitted photo)"It was pretty tough, but it was really rewarding seeing a bunch of fellow pianists there and seeing what I can learn from how they play and how I can improve myself," adds Rice.