Front & Center: Shirley Ennis keeps MusicFest humming along

This week, more than 1,000 young musicians, vocalists and dancers will demonstrate their artistic talent at Musicfest Northwest, the largest competition of its kind in the country.

But were it not for the organizational talent of office coordinator Shirley Ennis and the Musicfest board, the festival’s complicated schedule might come off like pianist Victor Borge playing a tune with the sheet music upside down.

Ennis and board president Gail Belanger devote months to making sure performers, adjudicators and volunteers know when to converge at venues scattered around the Gonzaga University campus. There are also live performances at KPBX FM’s studios, and two concerts at the Bing.

After the 72nd annual festival concludes Friday night, Ennis and the board will take a weekend break, then start planning next year’s event.

During a recent interview, Ennis discussed the festival’s logistical challenge, and why she keeps coming back for encores.

S-R: Where did you grow up?

Ennis: In Ballard (a neighborhood in northwest Seattle).

S-R: What were your interests?

Ennis: I liked sports.

S-R: Were there girls teams back then?

Ennis: Not that I know of. I graduated from high school in 1946.

S-R: Did you study music?

Ennis: I took piano lessons as a child, but it wasn’t my favorite thing to do. (laugh) I’d rather go outside and play baseball with the boys.

S-R: Did you have any favorite classes?

Ennis: I was planning to be a secretary, and loved learning shorthand.

S-R: How about after high school?

Ennis: I went to work as a secretary for Borgersen’s Furs. They were friends of the family. When I was little, I had a white fur coat and matching muff that my parents gave me.

S-R: How long were you with Borgerson’s?

Ennis: About two years. Then I went to work for Alcoa. After I got married, we moved to Spokane and I went to work for the Spokane International Railroad, which later became the Union Pacific. I was there 30 years.

S-R: What brought you to Musicfest – or, as it was known then, the Greater Spokane Music and Allied Arts Festival – back in 1990?

Ennis: A friend of mine, Marge Hoyum, whom I had helped when she was voice chairman, said, “OK, you’ve had it with work. Now you’re going to become piano division chairman.” And I said, “OK,” not knowing what I was getting into. Piano is the biggest division, so I worked with the chairman two years before taking over.

S-R: When did you become office manager?

Ennis: I kind of eased into it.

S-R: Are you the only paid staff person with the festival?

Ennis: Yes, I am.

S-R: Did the skills you learned in previous careers transfer to this one?

Ennis: Oh, sure. I do a lot of typing and data input.

S-R: When did you start working with computers?

Ennis: At the railroad. I remember coming home one day and boo-hooing to my mother, saying I couldn’t do it. And she said, “Can so-and-so and so-and-so do it?” And I said, “Well, yeah.” She said, “And you’re telling me you can’t do it?” And I said, “Well, I guess if they can do it, I can too.”

S-R: When did the festival become computerized?

Ennis: After I got here. I knew enough about computers to be dangerous, so we kind of segued into it.

S-R: Can you imagine doing your job without computers now?

Ennis: No, I can’t. We used to have piles of entry forms scattered around various homes. It was a nightmare.

S-R: Let’s talk about logistics. When do you start thinking about next year’s event?

Ennis: The day after festival is over. Well, not the next day. But the following Monday.

S-R: And when does it start getting crazy?

Ennis: In the middle of the year, when all the division chairs start rounding up adjudicators and we get the bulletin ready for the printers. As the festival approaches, it’s terribly busy. But I love it – I do! I’ve been thinking for quite a while that I probably should pass it on to someone else. But it’s hard to think about, because I love this job and the people involved with it so much.

S-R: What’s a long day for you as the festival approaches?

Ennis: It used to be eight or nine hours, but I can’t do as much as I used to, so it’s more like four or five.

S-R: Are you training anyone to take over?

Ennis: I’m trying, but it’s hard to give somebody your job.

S-R: Has the festival ever been in jeopardy since you became involved in 1990?

Ennis: One time 10 or 15 years ago, we ran out of money. We knew we had at least enough to pay the adjudicators, but we didn’t know how we were going to pay the phone bill, or pay the symphony for playing with our young artists. So the board would sit down each month with all the bills, and pick which ones we would pay. We had to pay the symphony in installments.

S-R: What caused the shortfall?

Ennis: I’m not sure. It just wasn’t there. And it’s never happened since. We now have a lot of angels who help us out.

S-R: What’s the festival’s budget?

Ennis: Between $90,000 and $100,000.

S-R: Has the level of student participation remained fairly constant?

Ennis: We used to have a percussion division, and that fell away. The accordion division is another one that has gone by the wayside. And entries in the piano division have gone down. Most of the others – voice, dance, flute – have stayed about the same. The organ division was gone for a while, and now we’ve brought it back.

S-R: Why did the event change its name in 2001?

Ennis: The president at the time said the Greater Spokane Music and Allied Arts Festival was too long.

S-R: It also didn’t reflect that competitors came here from all over.

Ennis: And they still do. They come from Montana and Oregon. One girl came from one of the Southern states, and the year before last she won Young Artist in the guitar division.

S-R: What do you like most about your job?

Ennis: I love meeting with the kids and seeing their faces when they get a gold medal – or anything, really. I love those kids a lot.

S-R: What do you like least?

Ennis: Scheduling – I could walk away from that. This year, our president, Gail Belanger, did the piano division schedule for me after completing her own voice division schedule. Last year, too. What a friend!

S-R: What are you most proud of?

Ennis: That’s a hard one. … I think I’ve done a good job of keeping the festival together. I know what all the divisions need, and I make sure they have it.

S-R: Are most of your volunteers women?

Ennis: Yes, but we have a few men. My son, James, is helping me with piano division this year. And our vice president and several division chairs are men.

S-R: You accommodate hundreds of pianists. Where do you get the pianos?

Ennis: Steinway loans them to us, and also donates a $500 honorarium for the piano division Young Artist, plus $250 each for the four Adjudicator Choice winners. I don’t know what we would do without Steinway.

S-R: Do you have a motto for how you run the festival?

Ennis: It’s for the kids. Period.

S-R: What’s their age range?

Ennis: They start at first grade and go all the way through college. We’ve even had elderly people play for the adjudicators, but there were no awards for them – only feedback.

S-R: How much does it cost to enter Musicfest?

Ennis: Twenty-five dollars per class. And anyone can enter. They don’t need to be sponsored by a teacher.

S-R: Does anyone else host competitions similar to Musicfest?

Ennis: I know there’s a festival in Seattle and one down in Portland. But there’s nothing like this anywhere else in the country.

S-R: Do some performers come back year after year?

Ennis: Oh, yes. That’s the exciting part – to see youngsters mature into amazing artists. Justin Cai is a good example. When he started out, he could hardly reach the pedals. And just last month he played at Carnegie Hall (for having placed second in last year’s American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music, ages 14 to 17).

S-R: When someone learns what you do, what do they ask?

Ennis: “What’s Musicfest? I’ve never heard of it.” That’s what I hear more than anything else. And it’s kind of hard to explain.

S-R: Do people come just to listen?

Ennis: Oh, yes, and we encourage that. They can sit in on any division, and we have two concerts – the Young Artists Concert on Wednesday night, and the Festival Highlights on Friday night, both at the Bing at 7 o’clock.

S-R: How much does that cost to attend?

Ennis: Nothing.

S-R: At some point, someone will take your place. What qualities should that person have?

Ennis: They should love kids. That’s what’s so important.

S-R: Do you have a favorite style of music?

Ennis: I love all music. My kids always laughed at me because I listened to their music and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This interview has been condensed. If you’d like to suggest a business or community leader to be profiled, contact Michael Guilfoil at mguilfoil@comcast.net.