festival | esme

esme festival invitation letter 2026

Dear Music Colleagues,

esme (expanding success in music education) is pleased to invite you to participate in our eighth non-competitive music festival on Tuesday, April 14 and Wednesday, April 15, 2025 at CW Jefferys CI (340 Sentinel Rd, Toronto, ON)

Often, in order to engage all of our students, we find ourselves teaching classes or running extracurricular groups with very non-traditional instrumentation, structure, or repertoire, which can make it difficult to find performance opportunities for our students. It is our hope that this festival will give your school a chance to showcase different groupings and/or styles of musical programming, including, but certainly not limited to, rock band, improvisation, hip-hop, DJ-ing, composition/arranging, sound exploration, rap, and unique instrumentation.

This is a unique festival that celebrates forms of music education in addition to traditional ensembles. Both days will feature one 2 hour session, which will involve four groups performing “in the round” (facing each other) and engaging with a guest artist (this is most often centred on creativity, joy, and confidence). Each session will conclude with all four groups jamming en masse on a popular tune (we’ll send a lead sheet!).

Both of these days will include 4-5 groups that perform for one another and work with a special guest artist. Students will have a chance to perform for their peers, hear other student groups, and receive meaningful feedback in a very supportive, creative, and engaging environment.

Schedules

CW Jefferys CI (340 Sentinel Rd, Toronto, ON)
14th 9:45 check in/set-up, 10:30 - 12:30 performances and workshop, leave by 1pm

15th 9:45 check in/set-up, 10:30 - 12:30 performances and workshop, leave by 1pm

Finally, we would also like to keep this festival very student-focused. For this reason, we encourage each ensemble to assign a student MC to briefly introduce/speak on behalf of their group.

To register for this festival:

Complete the online registration form (one per group) by February 13th, 2026.

https://forms.gle/FKYnZAKZPFtryzJb6

After receiving notice of acceptance - Send a cheque* ($50 dollars per performing group) info for cheque to follow with acceptance letters

* All money collected will go directly to our guest artists/adjudicators.

If you have any questions, please email dsfriesen@wlu.ca or kayla.garrett@tdsb.on.ca.

Sincerely,

esme