Throughout 2024, the Winnipeg Arts Council partnered with dozens and dozens of musical groups, choral ensembles, community members and the Manitoba Choral Association to celebrate Winnipeg’s 150th birthday as the City of Song.
Celebrating the past, present and future of the city by creating opportunities for Winnipeggers to share in the joy of singing with friends, neighbours and fellow citizens. City of Song encompassed more than 100 different events from January to December, everything from pop up concerts and free public singalongs to major concert events, new commissions, and more.
Things kicked off in January with a standing-room-only crowd at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s John Hirsch Mainstage as over 700 people joined the cast of last season’s smash hit musical Beautiful: The Carole King Story to belt out the songs from King’s seminal album, Tapestry. Winnipeggers were invited to participate in singalong concert series all year long, everything from A Lot of Night Music musical theatre events hosted by the Village Conservatory at the Centre Culturel Franco-manitobain, Divas and Dragoons singalong drag shows hosted by Manitoba Underground Opera, Opera by the Pint hosted by Flipside Opera, and a special low-cost, family-friendly series of movies at the Park Theatre.
Through a major partnership with Manitoba Choral Association, network and outreach to choirs, conductors, and singers was expanded throughout Winnipeg. Several new programs were created including Brews & Tunes, and INSPIRE symposium for youth bringing more light to the vibrant choral communities across the city. Many events were free to attend or pay-what-you-can, ensuring events were accessible throughout Winnipeg. City of Song supported festivals including the Intercultural Choral Festival in March, the Winnipeg Baroque Festival in April, Gather Outdoor Festival in Assiniboine Park in September, and the Manitoba Choral Association’s ChoralFest in November.
City of Song also made possible special events including the 50th anniversary of franco-manitobain group Les Blés au vent, which featured over 100 choristers including past and present members of the ensemble. Musica Singers, which celebrates the music of Filipino Canadians in Manitoba, was able to present a number of concerts as well as a sold-out concert and workshop with UNESCO Artists for Peace the Phillippine Madrigal Singers. World Village Gospel Choir brought SongShare to the Centennial neighbourhood, bringing together lifelong Winnipeggers and newcomers to Canada to share and learn from each other in song. 2SLGBTQIA+ ensemble Rainbow Harmony Project staged drop-in choir events all summer long, while the Winnipeg Conservatory of Music travelled to seniors’ residences and care homes to lead singalongs for folks who have challenges getting out to events.
New works commissioned and presented included a collaboration between Cree composer Andrew Balfour and Michif writer katherena vermette as part of Dead of Winter’s Nestaweya, a concert focused on the importance of water in our lives. In November, Sing me a song you’ve (never) heard before brought audiences to hear new compositions from composer Karen Sunabacka and lyricist John Samson Fellows performed as operatic art song, accompanied by a performance from Governor General’s Award winning Winnipeg Poet Laureate, Chimwemwe Undi. The Riel Gentlemen’s Choir presented Hoof and Molar, a captivating fusion of music and spectacle illuminating the ecological grandeur of the plains bison and featuring a dazzling herd of glowing bison as they danced to an original composition by Jesse Krause.
Over the course of the year City of Song engaged with tens of thousands of Winipeggers and hundreds of artists in concerts, workshops, participatory events and special concerts, bringing citizens together in a celebration of community, harmony, intercultural collaboration, and hope for the future.
City of Song included participation from: Agassiz Music Festival All Saints Choir All the King's Men Arts Inclusion Manitoba Bison Men's Chorus Bluestem Canzona Cluster Festival CMU Music faculty and students Crescent Arts Centre Dead of Winter Dominion Voices Nigerian Choir Dry Cold Productions Due North Voices Ecco Singers Ecole Taché Flipside Opera Fort Richmond Collegiate Concert Choir Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Winnipeg Hanfeng Chinese Choir Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus Horizon Incantatem Singers John Taylor Collegiate Choir Joie de Vivre Kidz to Grannies La Chorale des Intrépides Les Blés au vent Les Chanteurs de Taché The Little Opera Company Manitoba Chinese Choir Manitoba Opera Manitoba Underground Opera Maples Collegiate Choir Momoko Matsumura & Ensemble Musica Singers Filipino Choir Norman Chief Dancers Nuovoce Chamber Choir O. Koshetz Ukrainian Choir Oberih Ukrainian Choir Prairie Voices Proximus 5 Rainbow Harmony Project Riel Gentlemen’s Choir Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre Royal Winnipeg Ballet Seniors Choral Society Sonolux Spirit Sands Singers St. James-Assiniboia Divisional Senior Concert Choir Stradbrook Avenue Show Choir Those Guys U of M Singers Unique Quintet Village Conservatory for Music Theatre Virtuosi Concerts Inc. Westminster United Church Choir Winnipeg Baroque Festival Winnipeg Boys Choir Winnipeg Conservatory of Music Winnipeg Folk Festival Winnipeg International Children's Festival Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra Winnipeg Music Festival Winnipeg Nurses Choir The Winnipeg Singers Winnipeg Sonora Voices Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Winnipeg Youth Chorus Women in Music Canada Women of Note World Village Music Zoongi Ogichidaa Anishinaabe Ikwezensag Nagamoog (Strong Anishinaabe Warrior Girls' Choir)
Visit the City of Song events page to see everything that happened all year long!
Additional funding for City of Song was provided by the Manitoba government, the Government of Canada, and Che Anne Loewen. The Winnipeg Arts Council acknowledges the contribution by Trudy Schroeder of Arts & Heritage Solutions to early discussions about this project. Her research was supported by the CP Loewen Foundation and the Winnipeg Arts Council.