City of Song is well underway with our year of live music programming. Two major projects kicked off this July – read on to learn more!
Pop-Up Performance with the Village Conservatory
This July, the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Village Conservatory for Music Theatre teamed up with the Forks to present a spontaneous song-and-dance performance under the Canopy to celebrate Winnipeg’s 150th anniversary as the City of Song.
Featuring twenty triple-threats – a mix of ViC alumni and local emerging artists – this pop-up parade took over the Forks for two performances, plus a live four-piece band (music directed by Paul De Gurse) and choreography by Jillian Willems. Created as a surprise for anyone under the canopy, folks sang, clapped, and danced along to a medley of pop songs from the Disco era to KPOP!
Assisting with the project were local companies Eventlight and Red Rover Entertainment, who helped us create a full video capture of the performance edited by Hypothetical Projects.
City of Song Pop-Up
Winnipeg Folk Festival - with Choir! Choir! Choir!
Photo: Matt Duboff
This year’s Folk Festival may have been hot, but Choir! Choir! Choir! was keeping things cool over at Big Bluestem on the Festival’s Saturday afternoon. Led by Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman, the duo led the audience in a sing-along to Winnipeg’s unofficial anthem: The Weakerthans’ “One Great City!” with special guest Begonia.
A brief downpour that shut down the power didn’t stop the pair from leading it a cappella while the festival audience sang along under tarps, umbrellas, or braved the rain to lend their voices.
We’re only halfway through our year of song – visit our events page to see what’s coming up!