Mind, Body, Soul

With these unseasonably warm December days we’ve been enjoying it may not feel like winter and the holiday season, but there is no mistaking the fact that the days are much shorter and we are in fact coming up very close to the Winter Solstice and Christmas. Right now we are in the midst of Advent and Hanukkah and for many people it is a time to start thinking about family, friends and food.

On Friday December 1st the Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP) in conjunction with Bad Hats Theatre launched their production of Narnia.

Inspired by  C.S. Lewis’s classic book series known as “The Chronicles of Narnia,” MTYP and Bad Hats invites audience members to slip into the wardrobe and enter a world of fantasy; seeing Narnia through the eyes of the four Pevensie children. With the Lion Aslan acting as their guide and advisor while coming  head-to-head with the evil White Witch who rules Narnia in a state of perpetual  Winter where there is no Christmas.

On Wednesday December 13th at 7:30pm at the Crescent Arts Centre, Jazz Winnipeg will be presenting the phenomenal singer and pianist Laila Biali in a show called Winter Songs and Holiday Classics. This is sure to be marvelous a holiday concert that will feature not only the incredibly talented Laila Biali, but also the renowned Juno Winning and Grammy nominated Canadian saxophonist and flute player Jane Bunnett.

This Sunday, December 3rd at 3:00pm at St. Andrews River Heights United Church, The Winnipeg Singers in collaboration with the Pembina Trails Voices Chorale will present their concert called “Christmas is for Children: A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”

Centered around the nostalgic, charming and multi-sensory poem by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas of the same name, this concert will provide a truly memorable afternoon of Christmas carols while at the same time summoning up the sights, smells and feelings of the holiday season.

One of the sure signs that the holiday season is here is the sound of Christmas Carols and the jingle of bells ringing in the season. Put the two together and you have absolute magic. Nothing puts the shimmer on a good Christmas melody like the sound of handbells.

This Sunday, December, 3rd at 2:00pm at Chapel Lawn the Ring Out Handbell Quartet will be performing a “Christmas Handbell Ringing” concert.

This Saturday, December 2nd at 7:00pm at Westworth United Church, the Esprit Singers will be presenting a concert called “And Suddenly.”

For those unfamiliar with the Esprit Singers, they are Manitoba’s premiere women’s choir. They have performed in Iceland to rave reviews and have performed with some of Winnipeg’s best musicians. They have also commissioned new works and arrangements from such composers as Ron Paley, David Scott, Glenn Sutherland and Neil Weisensel

This Sunday, December 3rd at 1:00 on the Centennial Concert Hall’s Piano Nobile the Manitoba Band Association (MBA) will be warming up audiences hands, feet and especially ears with the low, warm, sonorous sounds of low brass courtesy of a mass choir of tuba and euphonium players.

This Sunday, November 26th at 3:00pm at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, this Winnipeg Wind Ensemble will be presenting their first concert of the 2023-24 season. Called Field Full of Folk the concert will feature music of Gustav Holst, Florent Schmitt and Franz von Suppe amongst others.