January is here. The weather is cold. The days are short, but one of the true bright spots about January is that the Rady Jewish Community Centre is about to kick off another fantastic Music ‘N’ Maven’s Concert and Lecture Series.
Starting this Tuesday, January 7 at 2PM the Music ‘N’ Mavens series will be offering no less than 19 events to keep you warm, informed and entertained during the winter and early spring months.
Now in its 27th year this series has delighted Winnipeg audiences with its superior programming. Karla Berbrayer is the founder and producer of Music ‘N’ Mavens. As she says, “When I started up the series 27 years ago, my goal was to present stimulating cultural programs throughout the afternoon, in the middle of the coldest days of the winter... because there really was not anything else to do culturally in the middle of an afternoon on a weekday in Winnipeg. The same reason I wanted to create the series those many years ago holds true for why it is relevant today”
Routine was also something Berbrayer thought was crucial to the series success. All the concerts and lectures are on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 2pm. All take place at the Berney Theater at the Rady JCC. As Berbrayer explains, “Everybody likes to have a schedule. You like to wake up in the morning and know what you are doing every day, and for the people that come on a regular basis...to know that every Tuesday and Thursday at 2 o'clock I have something to do...that is a real bonus.”
The Lectures
This year's lecture series boasts both Winnipeg-centric and outward-looking topics.
Kim Bailey, Director of prevention, testing and wellness at Nine Circles Community Health Centre, will be giving a talk on supervised consumption sites.
Criminologist and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg, Katharina Maier will be discussing homeless encampments.
There will also be a talk given by former Conservative MLA Rochelle Squires. “I just find Rochelle Squires very interesting. Her topic is ‘Thriving Through Transition.’ It’s about how she has managed to go through all these transitions in her life from being a politician to the position she is holding most recently,” says Berbrayer.
There will also be lectures on world topics that we are dealing with now, as well as past events in world history.
Stephanie Phetsamay-Stobbe is a professor in Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College (a College of CMU) at the University of Winnipeg. Her lecture is called Fifty Years After the Fall of Saigon – Stories of Southeast Asians in Canada. Audiences will be fascinated by her own personal story as well as the stories of others who immigrated to Canada from Southeast Asia.
Belle Jarniewski is the Executive Director at Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, her talk called Antisemitism: What’s in a Word, will discuss a topic that is relevant today. As Berbrayer explains, “I felt that the topic of antisemitism is apropos right not. We are Jewish Community Centre, and we have felt the antisemitism in the city, and I think it is something that needs to be brought forward and discussed.”
There will also be lectures on such topics as medical advancements and the treatment of patients with brain tumors and epilepsy given by Dr. Mark Torchia. Financial Advisor Greg Bieber will be discussing getting the most out of your life. And veteran music historian John Einarson will be discussing some of the backstories to some of the research he has done for his many books that cover a veritable who's who of rock Music. Everyone from the Guess Who, to Neil Young to John Kay of Steppenwolf.
The Concerts
For music lovers, The Music ‘N” Mavens series has something for everyone.
There are a number of concerts that will put a spotlight on classic musical acts that are popular with both baby boomers and Gen Z-ers. All these shows will be presented by some of the city's best musicians. Singer Sheena Rattai will be paying tribute to Paul Simon. Vocalist Mal Magorel is putting on a show called The Super Ladies of the 60s and 70s which will put the spotlight on such artists as Dianna Ross and Aretha Franklin front and center. The guitar and vocal duo of Larry Roy and Erin Propp will be performing selections from the Joni Mitchell catalogue. Singer Aaron Hutton will be paying homage to the Beatles, and Winnipeg songstress and legend Nadia Douglas will be paying tribute to The Carpenters.
For those wanting some very eclectic entertainment. Music ‘N’ Mavens is presenting musical acts that draw on jazz, classical, and folk, and African influences.
Veteran Woodwind doubler Julie Husband will be giving a concert called Quartet of Quartets that will feature jazz, pop, classical and modern music. WSO Assistant principal second violinist Elation Pauls will be performing music by Canadian composers well as Ravel’s Kaddish, and the Theme from Schindler's List. The Juno Award winning Franco-Manitoban/ Red River Metis Vocalist Andriana Turenne and guitarist Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner will be presenting a bilingual concert of jazz and folk tunes.
This year’s season also puts a bit of an emphasis on music inspired by African Influences.
In the middle of January, Nigerian- Canadian artist Tommyphyll will perform a concert that blends futuristic elements with tribal percussion. His music pulses with the essence of his Nigerian heritage, intertwined with the dynamic influence of his life in Canada.
In March Winnipeg South Sudanese-Canadian Saxophonist and singer Joyce German who goes by the stage name Ingia will present music that combines elements of jazz in combination with music from her native South Sudan.
This 2025 season of Music ‘N’ Mavens really does have something for everyone. There is plenty to keep you warm, entertained and enlightened during winter’s dog days.
For more details on Music and Maven’s 2025 Concert and Lecture Series click here.
