Arts & Culture

Farce, flirtation, fidelity and flannel. 

Mozart’s charming comic opera Così fan tutte concludes Manitoba Opera's celebratory 50th anniversary season.  

“There's something about this piece that’s just different from all the other (Mozart operas), in that it reaches another height,” says director Rob Herriot.  

Building on the momentum of the previous concerts in the series, Canzona concludes the 2023 Winnipeg Baroque Festival (WBF) with two of the foremost composers of the era.  

Though you may not have heard of the ensemble, you have likely heard its members' voices as, together, they are some of the most experienced choristers in the city.  

Proximus 5 – Scott Reimer, Dan Rochegood, Paul Bruch-Wiens, Jereme Wall, and Josiah Brubacher – perform in the second Winnipeg Baroque Festival concert, aptly titled “A Proximus Baroque.”  

For the first time in Canada, a full-scale Indigenous-led opera will be presented on a mainstage.  

Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North will open the company’s 51st season on November 18. The world premiere will be paired with the return of one of the most popular operas of all time, Carmen, which was cancelled in March 2020 owing to the pandemic, opening on April 13, 2024.  

Find the full press release below.   

For many of us the television channel PBS brings up thoughts of sitting in front of the TV as a child watching Sesame Street, or perhaps the Electric Company or maybe as we got older… taking in English comedies that originally aired on the BBC. Perhaps for many it brings up iconic personalities such as the painter Bob Ross, Mister Rodgers, or Bill Nye the Science guy.

For us Canadians PBS has been something we have been lucky enough to get from television affiliates south of the Border.

A pioneering work – one that is considered to be amongst the first great masterpieces in the Western classical tradition – launches the Winnipeg Baroque Festival (WBF) this weekend.  

Violinist Aisslinn Nosky is a player who leads by example. 

Literally.  

As guest artist, she takes the stage with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra serving as both soloist and conductor – at the same time. A practice that goes back to the time of Haydn, Mozart and even earlier.  

Best known for his creation of the Winnipeg General Strike musical "Strike" and its film adaptation "Stand!", Schur spent more than three decades working in the music, musical and movie business. 

Born in Ethelbert, Manitoba, Schur grew up immersed in the Ukrainian culture prominent in the small town four hours north of Winnipeg. He developed his musical talent at the piano and singing in a Ukrainian church choir before making the move to the province's capital, studying piano and composition at the University of Manitoba’s School of Music. 

This week, Winnipeg audiences can look forward to the new season, ushered in by the Regimental Band of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles in their annual spring concert.  

“Everyone always wants to celebrate spring – especially after the winter we’ve had,” says Master Corporal Erin Dunsmore.  

The concert also salutes musically the new commander-in-chief, His Majesty King Charles III, recognizing the special relationship that the Canadian military has had with the monarchy, explains Dunsmore.