The Southeastern Manitoba Festival (SEMF) was the first festival for a local 19-year old senior pianist who also received the highest overall mark.

Winkler pianist Benjamin Funk says he started playing the piano when he was five-years-old and, though he notes he felt like quitting at times, he continued to push himself through the years along with support and encouragement from his parents.

Funk says playing piano and making music feels like his calling.

During the recent festival and performance in Steinbach, he notes the feedback from the adjudicators was very positive.

"This adjudicator was talking a lot about a specific sound for each composer. So, she said, 'you have a very nice Beethoven sound, the sound adapts to the composer.' Which is great."

He says he prefers to play music by composers such as Beethoven, Shubert, or Chopin.  

The Southeastern Manitoba Festival Stars Gala is on Tuesday where Funk will receive the Dr. Karl Krueger Trophy along with a $200 scholarship.

Funk has also been awarded a four-year renewable scholarship to the University of Manitoba after a successful top piano audition. He says he will be studying music there and wants to continue teaching piano privately in the future.