Winnipeg is known across Canada for the music it creates and for its exceptional number of singers and choirs, so fittingly, the Winnipeg Arts Council (WAC) will celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary through a year of song.
Featuring the best of our community spirit and artistic excellence, City of Song is a showcase for the best of Winnipeg’s talents and countless opportunities for Winnipeggers to engage in the power of singing with friends and neighbours across the city.
“The pandemic has been difficult for artists,” says Carol A. Phillips, WAC’s Executive Director. “Live performances were very early casualties of the lockdowns and among the last things to be allowed to start up again as restrictions lifted. Singing was hit particularly hard and so as we wondered how to celebrate Winnipeg’s anniversary in an inclusive, festive, and forward-looking way, one idea rose to the top: let’s get everyone singing together.”
WAC will partner with dozens of performing arts organizations to include elements of choral music in their season programming throughout 2024. Working with Manitoba Choral Association to shine the spotlight on school and community choirs from all over Winnipeg, WAC and MCA will present and support events including choral festivals, training opportunities for youth, and special performances throughout the year.
The City of Song program is growing every day, and will encompass everything from opera to musical theatre, from choral concerts to singer-songwriters and jazz singers, with Indigenous voices and those from diverse ethnocultural communities represented by both professional and community-based choirs from across Winnipeg. And just as importantly, City of Song will also provide opportunities for the public to sing, through a variety of programmed and pop-up events throughout the year. Pub singalongs, movies and surprise events are among the things being planned. “Our goal is to bring all Winnipeggers together in a celebration of community, harmony, intercultural collaboration, and hope for the future,” says Phillips.