A Maple Ridge artist has been honoured for her excellent work as an up-and-coming young artist at the Fraser Valley Music Awards.
The 5th annual awards were handed out Thursday, Nov. 19, and Ashley Pater clinched the Excellence by a Youth Artist category.
They are the initiative of CIVL Radio, the University of the Fraser Valley’s campus and community radio station and were started in 2016 after a year-long grant project funded by the Community Radio fund of Canada.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this years awards were broadcast live on 101.7 FM and also by video link.
Pater was nominated for Pop Artist of the Year. She received Excellence by a Youth Artist because judges ranked her the highest of all youth artist submissions for the awards.
Winner of the Pop Artist category was Rebecca Sichon of Mission.
There were about 12 judges this year, around five or six judged the Pop Artist category.
READ MORE: 50 nominees announced for Fraser Valley Music Awards
According to the 17-year-old’s biography, in 2017 CBC named her one of 10 must-hear young musicians in Canada. In the past year Pater has performed 105 shows and her largest audience was 100,000 people. She has been featured in many local publications.
Pater won because of her high-quality songs, explained 101.7 FM station manager Aaron Levy.
“The time that an artist puts into presenting a professional recording is always something that will be rewarded by judges,” he said.
“She has a great voice. She’s done a great job of developing an image that you can see she’s starting to brand herself and promote herself that way and I think that’s really effective,” added Levy.
Artists had to pay a $5 submission fee and then they were asked to submit their biography, any testimonials they have, press clippings and music tracks.
“This was based on the quality of her songs she provided to our jurors,” noted Levy.
Excellence by a Youth Artist was one of five bestowed awards handed out.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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