Festival Honours, Awards & Nominations
Eligibility Guidelines
The KW Kiwanis Music Festival is proud to recognize the achievements and excellence of music students through various awards and honours. Please see below to learn more about all the opportunites available and how to qualify.
*Note: High marks or top class placements do not guarantee an award as overall participation across multiple classes may be taken into account. In more compeititive divisions with high registration numbers it is highly recommended that participants enter multiple classes in order to increase their chances of earning an award.
Adjudicators have sole discretion as to how awards and nominations are distributed and all
decisions with respect to class outcome, awards, provincial delegation, and concert performer nominations are irrevocable.
- Class Marks & Placements
All participants will receive written and verbal evaluations from the adjudicator. In competitive classes participants will also receive a mark (out of 100) and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place will be awarded based on class marks. Participants must earn a mark of 80 or higher to qualify for a class placement.
Seals of Standard will be given based on marks: Gold for a mark of 90 and above, Silver for a mark of 85-89 and Bronze for a mark of 80-84. At the end of each class the adjudicator will announce the class placements but will not disclose the marks.
For School & Community Ensemble classes 1st, 2nd & 3rd placements will not be assigned, but the adjudicator will announce the Seals of Standard that are awarded to each ensemble.
- Class Ribbons
Participants who are awarded 1st, 2nd or 3rd Place will receive a designated Ribbon. All other participants (including those in Community classes) will receive a Participant Ribbon.
- Financial Awards
Adjudicators are provided with a list of available financial awards, recognizing outstanding acheivement within their division. They will have sole discretion in distributing the available awards. Adjudicators are asked to take participants' overall festival performance within their division into account, and preference will be given to those who participate in multiple classes where applicable. In some cases awards are tied to specific classes, levels or trophies. Awards range from $25 to $500 based on class levels.
Awards are made possible by generous donors and recipients are encouraged to write a thank you letter to the donor of their award.
Recipients are invited to accept their award at the Finale Concert, otherwise cheques will be mailed. Expired award cheques are not reissued.
- Trophies
The top performer in each division and in some cases a particular class will receive an annual trophy which will be awarded at the discretion of the adjudicators and presented at the Finale Concert. Trophy Winners will have their name and year inscribed on a large trophy that they will get to keep until next year's festival. Trophies must be returned to the festival Coordinator at the start of the 2026 festival. Winners will also be given a smaller version of the trophy that they may keep permanently. Trophies will be presented on stage at the Finale Concert. Students who are not able to attend must contact the Festival Coordinator to arrange to pick up the trophy.
- Finale Concert Performers
The Finale Concert program aims to celebrate the achievement of all festival participants by featuring performances that represent as many divisions, levels, genres, and styles as possible.
Adjudicators nominate 3-4 performances from their division and then a committee selects the program from the collective list of adjudicator-nominated performers. Performers are invited to perform at the Finale Concert by email and are expected to reply within 48 hours to confirm their availability.
- OMFA Provincial Nominations
The KW Kiwanis Music Festival is a feeder festival for the Ontario Music Festival Association Provincial Competition. At the end of each festival, adjudicators nominate up to three (3) delegates as well as alternates for each eligible division and level to compete at the OMFA Provincials. Nominees will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to accept or decline their nomination. If one or more of the nominees decline or do not respond, then the next alternate on the list will be invited.
Students must receive a mark of 85 or higher in order to be considered for a nomination. Most OMFA classes require that participants perform two (2) selections, therefore adjudicators will give preference to participants who perform two (2) or more selections during the KWKMF when deciding who to nominate. It some cases the adjudicator may nominate a participant who only plays one (1) selection, but that participant should be prepared to perform a second or third piece as required by the OMFA if they accept the nomination.
OMFA rules stipulate that nominees must accept the first invitation that they receive from any festival. Therefore, if a participant enters multiple Ontario music festivals, they must accept the first festival nomination they receive and will not be permitted to accept an invitation at a later date on behalf of another festival (regardless of whether they declined the first invitation).
Specific information about OMFA Provincial requirements for each division can be found under each section of this syllabus.