Made in Manitoba

"We didn't want to make something just to make something. We wanted to make art." Winnipeg's own, Phoebe Pedrina's new single is set to be released tomorrow and has been covered in prayer. 

'Metamorphosis' is set to be released on Friday, April 19. This has been a long time in the making. "It started more than a year ago. It started with prayer when a couple of us from my church were meeting. We just had it in us that we were going to birth some songs," Pedrina says.

Manitoba's own, Barbara Joy Siemens has released a song dedicated to mothers to provide encouragement with what they're going through.  

"For a couple of years, I've been saying to Sharalee [Smith], 'I need a song for Mother's Day and about mothers, you know, being a mother and a grandmother myself. Just a blessing and an encouragement for mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers, your job is so important and there is Proverbs 31 that whole scripture is what the song is all about," Siemens says.

What began as a letter to friends and family has turned into Debra Peters's first published work, The Certainty in Uncertain Times. 

"The book hits two target audiences," says Peters. "It's both for the seeker as well as the believer. The word tells us that our people die from a lack of knowledge. The knowledge is the word of God."

Peters started writing the letter during COVID. 

Kelly Wiens is releasing a new single 'Glory to God' that was inspired during an outreach event. 

"I was inspired to write this song in a prayer meeting with a bunch of intercessors, mostly from Saskatchewan, where I came from," says Wiens. "It really comes out of the apostle Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:20-21."

A friend of Wiens' planned an event at Sasktel Place in Saskatoon last June. 

This Wednesday and Thursday, Winnipeg’s GroundSwell will be featuring a true Canadian piano phenom, pianist Corey Hamm.

For those unfamiliar with Corey Hamm, he is currently on faculty at University of British Columbia’s School of Music where he teaches piano and chamber music. He has commissioned more than 400 works for the piano, and has performed and taught all over the world, championing works by composers such as Henri Dutilleux, and Frederic Rzewski.

This Wednesday, March 6th at 1:30 at the Gwen Sector Creative Living Centre at 1588 Main Street, the Music and Maven’s Concert and lecture series is presenting the amazing  Argentinian-Canadian singer-song writer Onna Lou in a concert called Onna Lou Sings Songs of Latin America

Fusing Latin pop rock with Latin-American folk rhythms, tango and flamenco, Onna Lou has been described as a complete artist who sings, writes, performs and records her own music with warmth, intimacy and immense talent.

"I went back into my own life and I recognized how my heavenly Father has pursued me at every turn when I chose to turn away," says author Betty Sawatzky. "That for me was the greatest revelation when I was writing this book."

Sawatzky's first published work is titled I am the Prodigal, I am the Eldest. 

This Saturday, March 2nd at 7:30 at the Winnipeg Arts Gallery’s Main Hall, the Virtuosi Concert Series is putting on a concert called With Sick and Famished Eyes. Featuring the otherworldly, gorgeous voice of Canadian baritone Jonathan Adams, this is going to be fantastic concert that features 17th century song, traditional Indigenous music, and their own poetry.

Opening up the concert will be a string trio that consists of three of the finest young string players in Winnipeg today.

This week there are two recitals that feature a phenomenal father and son cello-piano duo. Today, February 27th at The Rady JCC at 2:00pm, the Music and Mavens concert series presents Rapt in Rachmaninov.  This concert will feature Yuri and Ari Hooker. Yuri Hooker is the Principal cellist with The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and his son Ari recently won the $2500.00 prize from the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg, and is currently studying at the University of Manitoba’s Desaultels Faculty of Music.

Rose Church in Transcona is making melodies once again with the release of another worship song written by the church's own worship team.

'Your Voice'  hit streaming platforms on Feb. 16 and Pastor Mark Roslund is excited for people outside the congregation to hear their third song.

"Our team is incredible. They're such amazing musicians, but they're even better worshippers if that makes sense. They just love Jesus and they're writing these songs for our house," Roslund shares, explaining that it was a long time in the making, but was worth the wait.