At its Annual General Meeting on July 15, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) announced a surplus of $3,500 for the 2009/2010 season. “This is a credit to our hard working and dedicated team including our musicians, our board and our management,” said Board Chair and President Dorothy Dobbie. “The musicians and the maestro receive credit for their excellent musical presentations; the Board for both its direction and its fundraising efforts; and our management team for being the glue that holds everything together.” For her part, Executive Director Trudy Schroeder observed that “this past year was the WSO’s 62nd season of operation. If anything, the organization is more spry and flexible than ever before. There was much to celebrate in the year of fine performances, effective outreach programs, successful festivals, increasing attendance and community support.”

Earlier this week, orchestra people from across Canada met in Winnipeg, MB at Orchestras Canada’s annual national meetings, co-hosted by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

It was an action packed few days, as over 50 delegates at the meeting took part in expert presentations on working better with data, collaborations with First Nations and Aboriginal communities, ground-breaking recent research on audience and patron growth, negotiating skills, and better governance. But it wasn’t all work: we were privileged to attend the opening of the Winnipeg Symphony’s 2nd annual Indigenous Festival, to hear short performances by both Andrew Balfour’s remarkable Camerata Nova choir and the outreach ensemble of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and to watch an exceptionally engaging documentary on the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s 2008 trip to Nunavik. Peer to peer learning was also highlighted, and we’re grateful to leaders from Halifax, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Edmonton, Vancouver and Nanaimo for sharing innovative practices and projects with their colleagues.

If you weren’t there, do not fret! You can still share in the experience: over the coming weeks, Orchestras Canada will be posting resources and podcasts from national meetings sessions on our website, and we look forward to letting you know when key resources are ready to share.

None of this could have happened without the support, energy and intelligence of many, many people. We’d like to thank

• The organizing committee: Leanne Atkinson of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Thérèse Boutin of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières; Trudy Schroeder of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Vicki Young of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
• Our host organizations: the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra – both of whom mobilized all of their resources to ensure that our program was full , and our guests treated graciously;
• Expert presenters: Robert Friend, VP Choice Ticketing Systems; facilitator Sam Baardman and panelists Sam Baardman, Vince Fontaine, JF Phaneuf, Lisa Abrams and Tanya Derksen (all from the WSO); mezzo soprano Marion Newman; Vicki Young and Boyd Mackenzie from the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra; Cameron Baggins from the Frontier School Division; Alan Greyeyes from the Aboriginal Music Project at Manitoba Music; Andrew Balfour and Camerata Nova; Jack McAuliffe of Engaged Audiences LLP and Kate Prescott of Prescott Associates; Francis Handy of the Stitt Feld Handy Group; and David Brown of Brown Governance.
• Meeting funders and sponsors: the Canada Council for the Arts, whose support enabled many people from smaller budget orchestras to attend; the Department of Canadian Heritage; the Manitoba Arts Council; the Winnipeg Foundation; the Thomas Sill Foundation; Arts and Cultural Industries Manitoba; and coffee break sponsors Cowan Insurance, Dean Artists, Domoney Artists and Long and McQuade.
• A wonderful group of volunteers, recruited for us by ACI Manitoba, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra;
• OC staff members Jennifer Caines and Diann Missal and OC statistician C. Stephen Smith.

A heart-felt thank to all of these people and organizations – and to the artists and cultural organizations of the city of Winnipeg – who welcomed us so very hospitably.

The Winnipeg Symphony presents its 2nd annual Indigenous Festival in a range of venues from June 21 to 24. “This year’s Indigenous Festival celebrates music from across the four directions, creating new traditions, new friendships and new music,” says Festival Manager Vince Fontaine, also a member of Juno Award-winning group Eagle & Hawk. “We’re merging Western, First Nation and World cultures and instruments to create something new, something bigger,” says WSO Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate. “To have a new piece of art that comes out of the marriage of those different soundscapes is what I’m most excited about.”

Each concert night is specially themed (1. Ritual; 2. Friendship; 3. Songs; and 4. Celebration) and features such artists as Eagle & Hawk, Cree composer Andrew Balfour, erhu master George Gao, Don Amero, Viva Brasil, Shy-Anne Hovorka, Pura Fe and Jennifer Kreisberg from Ulali, Licanantay, and Juno Award-winning Digging Roots. The festival’s opening night also includes a very special performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, featuring an original dance performance by the Contemporary School of Dance and the Manitoba Aboriginal School of Dance choreographed by Odette Heyn-Penner and Buffy Handel, respectively. The festival also includes free outdoor performances on June 21, 22 and 23. For more information, please visit here.

On Wednesday, May 5 the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra welcomed over 200 music students from across Manitoba to the Centennial Hall Stage for its annual Rising Stars concert. As the media release states, “this concert connects aspiring musicians with their professional idols, giving them a chance not only to meet these expert performers, but also to play alongside them.” WSO music director Alexander Mickelthwate will share the podium on this occasion with conductors Cheryl Ferguson (Junior Band), Wendy McCallum (Intermediate Band), and Fraser Linklater (Senior Band).

For this event, the WSO partnered with the Manitoba Band Association (MBA), which convened the group through its Provincial Honour Band program. All Manitoba students who are members of the MBA, or whose band instructor or private teacher is a member of the MBA, are eligible to audition for an Honour Band. Applicants are judged on the quality of a recorded audition, which consists of several scales and two etudes. The students are then divided by grade level and experience into the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Bands.

The performance  featured a solo by Senior Band member JongJu Park, winner of the WSO’s Rising Stars Student Competition. Park, a Grade 12 student from Vincent Massey Collegiate, performed the first movement of Ferdinand David’s Concertino for Trombone with the WSO.

Earlier this week, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Alexander Mickelthwate, music director) launched its 2010-11 season – seven concert series, 33 concert programs and 57 concert dates.  Season highlights include a gala opening night with virtuoso violinist and composer Mark O’Connor; the world premiere of popular Winnipeg artist Chantal Kreviazuk’s symphony show; the WSO New Music Festival debut of the Kronos String Quartet; a visit by Krzysztof Penderecki; the Peking Acrobats; a return visit by Brandon-born violinist James Ehnes; and much more.  For more information, please visit the orchestra’s website here.

Late last week, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Adventures in Music program kicked off its spring cycle of performances.  Between now and April, the orchestra will perform in three Manitoba cities (Winnipeg, Brandon and Winkler), and will provide over 13,000 students in Grades 4-8 the opportunity to experience the full WSO in performance.  As well, over 500 students will perform with the orchestra:  either playing recorder, strings or percussion, or singing, or dancing!  (We’d love to be backstage.  On second thought, maybe not.)

The program also features the Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, Viva Brasil (Brazilian martial arts & dance group), Young Stars (musical theatre group) and Xiao-Nan Wang (a Chinese flute master).

The students have been carefully prepared for the experience, too:  their teachers have been working with the WSO’s curriculum-based study guide since the fall, after a workshop presented by the Manitoba Orff Chapter.  As well, students have been encouraged to paint and draw works inspired by John Estacio’s Frenergy, and many of these will be projected overhead while the work is being performed by the WSO.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra launches “Breaking Ground”, its 19th Annual New Music Festival tonight (February 5), with a pre-festival event at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.  The official opening is February 6, and concerts run through to February 12.  Most concerts are led by WSO music director Alexander Mickelthwate.  Featured composers and performers this year include composers Steven Stucky, Derek Charke, Tim Brady, John Psathas and performers Tanya Tagaq, Jenny Lin, and the ensemble Eighth Blackbird.  A particular highlight of this year’s festival is the February 6 world premiere of WSO resident composer Vince Ho’s new work, Arctic Symphony, inspired by a week Dr. Ho spent aboard the icebreaker ‘Amundsen‘ with the scientists engaged in the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study.  The festival also includes “an adrenaline-filled homage to Les Paul, inventor of the electric guitar, with over 20 electric guitarists and the WSO – all on one stage!” – among many other delights.  Festival passes are available for as little as $49 for students.  For more information, you can visit the NMF website here.

The Windsor Canadian Music Festival is also in full swing right now, and runs until tonight.  The festival, a partnership between the Windsor Symphony and the School of Music at the University of Windsor, includes chamber, electro-acoustic and orchestral concerts, panel discussions and ‘happenings’ in venues throughout the university campus and downtown Windsor.  One of the highlighted venues is the Windsor Armouries, an impressive heritage building that’s been identified by the WSO as a potential future home.  Featured composers this year include Robert Lemay, Brent Lee, Jordan Nobles, Robert Rival and Sundar Subramanian.  As well, the work of video artists is prominently featured.   For more information on the WCMF, please visit their website here.

On February 16, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (led by guest conductor Scott Yoo) will be premiering The Widening Gyre, a new work by Winnipeg composer David R. Scott.  Like the WSO and Dr. Ho, the MCO and Mr. Scott were also artistic partners in the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study, and the new work is the product of Mr. Scott’s time aboard the ‘Amundsen’.  For the kinaesthetically inclined, the MCO has posted a series of photographs from the ship, and you can find them here. The program will also feature the premiere of a new work for soprano, guitar and orchestra by Jim Hiscott, entitled The Song of the Stars, based on a Passamaquoddy text.  The concert takes place at the MCO’s home at Westminster United Church.

Inspired by his voyage to Canada’s arctic on a scientific research vessel last year, Winnipeg Symphony Resident Composer Vincent Ho has written a 30-minute symphony that will get its world premiere performance at the gala opening of the WSO’s New Music Festival.  The concert, scheduled for February 6, will also include works by Steven Stucky and John Tavener, and will be conducted by WSO music director Alexander Mickelthwate.

Featured performers in the new work include the Nunavut Sivuniksavut Performers, a group of throat singers from various Nunavut communities, and recorded sound-files of the Arctic environment.

Talking about the creative process, Dr. Ho notes:  “In the summer of 2008, I was provided with the opportunity to visit the Arctic region as part of an ‘Artist on Board’ program through the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study (CFL).  I was taken on board a state-of-the-art research vessel, the CCGS Amundsen, where I was introduced to studies conducted by many of the world’s leading arctic research scientists. I was also taken to Inuit communities to learn about their culture and how the current state of the environment has impacted their way of life. The goal was to provide me with first-hand experience of the Northern region while gaining a better understanding of climate change (from both the scientific and the cultural perspective)… I found myself developing a spiritual connection with the environment, and for good reason: I was in a vast open area; I was constantly being subjected to the environmental conditions of the region; and I was continually surrounded by nature’s angelic beauty, untouched by utilitarian society. I therefore felt that the music needed to express this spiritual connection that had formed.”

For tickets, visit here.

Orchestra News had a pair of jolly seasonal updates from the Winnipeg Symphony this week.

Thanks to generous donors and sponsors, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra reports that they were able to distribute over 300 no-cost tickets to last weekend’s performances of The Snowman to families that would otherwise not be able to attend the concerts.  A total of twenty-three community organizations helped in the distribution of the tickets.   “For more than a decade, the WSO has provided concert tickets to more than 30 organizations allowing disadvantaged children and families to experience the magical world of symphonic music,” says Carol Cassels, WSO Development Manager. “Providing the opportunity to see and hear live music being performed, opening their eyes to new sights and sounds and exposing them to a genre of music they might never hear otherwise, helps to enrich our community. As well, our exceptional musicians are wonderful role models for young people and inspire many to pursue music in their own lives. We are very grateful to our patrons and sponsors who have enriched our community by supporting our Share the Music program.”

As well, the WSO has reported that it’s traveling this month to four different Manitoba communities, to share the holiday spirit.  Thanks to Manitoba Hydro and presenting partners in each of the host communities, the WSO (led by resident conductor Richard Lee) will perform seasonal favourites in Steinbach, Gimli, Neepawa, and Portage la Prairie.

For more information about the WSO, you can visit their website here.

On January 2, Winnipeg will celebrate its recognition as a Cultural Capital of Canada for 2010 by presenting a great big concert at the Centennial Concert Hall, featuring the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and a host of other performers.  The event, presented by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO), Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada 2010, and Manitoba Homecoming 2010, will feature (in alphabetical order): Steve Bell; D.Rangers; Eagle & Hawk; Fubuki Daiko; Monica Huisman; James Keelaghan; Steve & Anna-Lisa Kirby Jazz Quintet; Momentum Aerial; Daniel ROA; Stacey Nattrass; Sierra Noble; Camerata Nova; Fred Penner; Royal Winnipeg Ballet; Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble; The School of Contemporary Dancers; and, of course, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Other events planned in honour of Winnipeg’s big year include a free River Barge Festival at The Forks, a story-telling project in every neighbourhood, the first Canadian International Cello Festival, and a massive multi-site exhibition of contemporary indigenous art from around the world.

Tickets are a mere $20.10 each – and you can find out more, here.