Arts & Culture

Rita Menzies remembered as a pillar of Manitoba’s classical music community
Former MCO general manager and Agassiz Festival president leaves lasting legacy

The Manitoba arts community is mourning the loss of one of its most influential leaders. Rita Menzies, a longtime arts administrator whose work helped shape the province’s classical music scene for more than four decades, passed away on Thursday.

This week on Classic 107, we pay tribute to one of the most influential pianists of the 20th century—Alfred Brendel, who passed away last week at the age of 94. In the 1 p.m. hour from Monday, June 23 through Friday, June 27, we’ll be featuring some of his most iconic recordings: a musical journey through Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Liszt that captures the depth, elegance, and intellect of a true giant of the keyboard.

A beloved Winnipeg music teacher is calling it a career after three decades of instruction in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division, but not before throwing a momentous concert to celebrate his legacy.  

Greg Edwards, the longtime band instructor at Westwood Collegiate, will be the focal point of an alumni gala at the Centennial Concert Hall on June 22. Many of the students that he has taught over the years will be joining forces to celebrate Edwards and to raise funds for Cancer Care Manitoba.  

Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg will share several of the Indigenous and Inuit art pieces in its permanent collection in a uniquely curated exhibit.  

Rooted in Relations is the culmination of the work in the Indigenous Theory and Curatorial Practices class offered by the university. Students from a wide variety of backgrounds came together to select the pieces that will be on display over the next several weeks.  

Summer is officially here! After the long wait, we’ve finally reached the solstice — the sunniest spot on the calendar. Friday, June 20 marked the longest day of the year, and here at Classic 107, we’re leaning into the light with a special hour of music that radiates the warmth, joy, and dreaminess of the season.

Join us this Saturday morning, June 21, at 9 a.m., as we bask in a glow of musical sunshine — from sultry songs and shimmery orchestral textures to breezy chamber works and festive finales. Here's what’s on the summery soundtrack:

Argentinian Canadian musician Onna Lou debuts new music with a seven-piece band at the TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival.

Brazilian roots, jazz chops, and pure energy come together this Friday at the TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival 

The Gallery in the Park in Altona is hosting two exhibits that interact with each other despite depicting two very different places and cultures.  

Layered Histories: Perspectives on Colonization from the Chaco and Storied Land: (Re)Mapping Winnipeg are both the works of Miriam Rudolph. The Winnipeg-based artist grew up in the Chaco region of western Paraguay where a large concentration of Mennonites settled in the early 20th century.  

After more than three decades of enriching Manitoba's cultural landscape, Virtuosi Concerts is winding down operations — but its impact will continue through a new partnership with another pillar of Winnipeg’s classical music scene. 

A dazzling array of materials and mediums greets visitors to the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery these days in a confluence of new exhibits of theses from six new Masters of Fine Arts graduates. These exhibits run the gamut from literature to visual arts to video and sound, and each interrogates a part of the artist’s identity or cultural background in a new light.