Photos supplied by Norfolk Musical Arts Festival
The Norfolk Musical Arts Festival (NMAF) is celebrating the success of several local performers who represented the festival at the Ontario Music Festivals Association provincial competitions earlier this month.
As a member of the Ontario Music Festivals Association, the NMAF sends recommended competitors to the provincial level following its annual festival. The 2026 provincial competitions included virtual performances in early June and live competitions last week in Kitchener-Waterloo.
Among the top local results, Maggie-Dylan Norton-Shebib earned first place in the Senior Speech Arts category and also competed in the Senior Songs from the Screen and More division. Christopher Clarke finished second in Senior Speech Arts, while Jean Saliba placed second in Primary Speech Arts.
Other Norfolk representatives included Jessica Kennedy in Advanced Musical Theatre, Tiffany Bui, who received an Honourable Mention in Open Classical Piano, Ruby Paxton in Level 1 Classical Piano, and Georgia Porteous, who earned third place in Upper Strings Level 2.
The Jarvis Community Christian School Senior Band also captured first place in the School Bands Grades 8 and Under category.
The festival is also congratulating Port Dover’s Maggie-Dylan Norton-Shebib after her acceptance into the prestigious National Theatre School in Montreal. Maggie was one of just 14 students accepted from across Canada and one of the youngest successful applicants at just 18 years old.
The NMAF said it is proud to have provided Maggie with opportunities to develop her talents through speech arts, voice, instrumental music and band performances over the years. In 2025, she received the Rotary Club of Simcoe Cup for English and French Speech Arts along with a $1,000 award for her performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Maggie has also performed with Simcoe Little Theatre, Young Theatre Players, Lighthouse Theatre and Young Company, while playing oboe with the Simcoe Composite School band, dancing with Port Dover Dance Academy and studying voice with teacher Susan Drayson.
The Norfolk Musical Arts Festival has already announced its 2027 festival dates, with competitions scheduled for March 1 to 5. Registration opens November 2, 2026, with the syllabus and additional details expected to be released this fall.
Written by Jeremy Hall
