Contempo Music Festival 2027

Our Mission

To inspire young musicians by giving them a platform where their classical training comes alive through pop, Disney, and musical theatre—music they feel connected to and excited to perform.

Our Purpose

We created this festival to offer a warm, modern, and student-centered performance experience. While traditional festivals can feel formal or intense for some young performers, our goal is to provide a supportive and uplifting environment where students can truly shine and get the experience they need to grow.

Here, we focus on:

  • A relaxed, welcoming atmosphere

  • Meaningful, encouraging adjudicator feedback

  • Fun performance opportunities with contemporary music

  • Recognition for every student, so each child leaves feeling proud and motivated

Our vision is simple:
Make performance joyful, relevant, and confidence-building—so every student walks away feeling like a winner.

General Rules & Guidelines
Syllabus (Piano)
Registration Form (Closed)

Registration for Contempo Music Festival 2027 will begin early 2027!

Registration for Contempo Music Festival 2027 will begin early 2027!

  • Contempo Music Festival is organized by Simusique Studio, and is open to all piano students in British Columbia working at RCM Levels 1–10 who want to perform contemporary, popular, film, and culturally diverse repertoire with the same seriousness as classical music.

  • An online adjudicated piano festival focused on the RCM Popular Selection List (and equivalent popular‑style repertoire). Each participant performs one (or more) memorized piece, receives written feedback from an experienced adjudicator, and is eligible for certificates and special awards such as Best Performance, Judge’s Choice, Most Confident Beginner, and Audience Favourite.

  • Registration deadline is February 28, 2027, with video submission deadline on April 8th. Results will be announced on April 30, 2027.

  • The Contempo Music Festival runs online only. Performers record their piece on their own instrument and submit a video; adjudication, awards, and the Audience Favourite voting all take place digitally, so families can participate from anywhere without travel.

  • Classical training is essential, but today’s young musicians also connect deeply with music from movies, games, Broadway, jazz, and global popular styles. Contempo exists to bridge that gap—to give students a serious, encouraging space to present the music they love, apply their classical skills in new styles, and gain confidence performing for a real audience.

  • Students register through our online application form, then receive clear guidelines for recording and uploading their performance video by the submission deadline. Adjudicators watch each performance, prepare written comments and marks, and help select special prize recipients.

    • Best Pop Performance

    • Best Stage Presence

    • Most Confident Beginner

    • Audience Favourite (voted online!)

Adjudicators for 2027

Kemuel Wong

Kemuel Wong is the Principal Conductor of the Vancouver Oratorio Society Chorus and Chamber Singers, and Artist-in-Residence at St. Patrick’s Regional Secondary School. He was formerly the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Douglas College Director of Chorus and Beginning Choral Ensemble.

Kemuel graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Music in General Studies: Secondary Education and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting under Bruce Pullan and Dr. Graeme Langager. He has also studied conducting with Bruce Dunn, John van Deursen, Wayne Toews, Morihiro Okabe and Kenneth Hsieh. Kemuel has conducted concerts and performance tours in Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA and Germany.

Aside from conducting, Kemuel is a specialty coffee enthusiast. He also teaches piano and volunteers with the Vancouver Westcoast Music Society (formerly the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society), having served as the first male president in its 120 year history of supporting and promoting young aspiring BC musicians through scholarships, bursaries, and performances. 

Katie Fraser

Mezzo-soprano Katie Fraser is noted for her "rich, beautiful voice which is matched by an exceptional elegance and poise on stage". Her artistry combines vocal warmth, refinement, and a captivating sense of musical expression. She is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia, where she earned a Bachelor of Music (2020) and Master of Music (2022) in Opera Performance. She studied under Nancy Hermiston, Krisztina Szabó, Heidi Melton, and Rhoslyn Jones.

Katie is currently an Artist in Residence with Nebula Performances and recently resumed her role as Co-Director of the UBC Summer Vocal Workshop, a two-week intensive program for singers ages 13 and up. Her recent international engagements include a nine-city tour of China, where she performed the role of Shi Ping in Kangnian Tang’s opera Thunderstorm. Earlier this year, she was a featured soloist in the Valentine’s Concert Series in the Czech Republic, performing under the baton of Norbert Baxa alongside members of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Katie is pleased to return to the Vancouver Opera chorus for the 2026/27 season, appearing in productions of Tosca and La Traviata. 

Past credits include Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Prince Charming in Massenet's Cendrillon, Shi Ping in Kangnian Tang's Thunderstorm, Lola in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Frau Reich in Nicolai’s Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Jezibaba in Dvorak’s Rusalka, Tree Spirit in Shadow Catch, Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Tessa in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, Julia Bertram in Dove’s Mansfield Park with the UBC Opera Ensemble. 

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting Contempo Music Festival 2026!