Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra posts $141-K surplus

Angela Birdsell is venturing out on a high note.

Last year, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra executive director, who in August announced she would not be renewing her WSO contract, had a hard time seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

The WSO was facing a $1.3-million budget gap, which Birdsell says seemed intractable at a time when the orchestra’s board-designated COVID reserve was used up. To boot, the WSO was carrying forward a $250,000 deficit from the previous season.

This week, the WSO announced at its annual general meeting that the orchestra is closing its 2024/25 books with an operating surplus of $140,919.

Ronnie Burkett graces Winnipeg stage after 20 years with hot topic storytelling

Ronnie Burkett takes the streetcar, but the displacement of his neighbourhood mechanic left the Toronto puppetmaster feeling as if a series regular had been written out of his life.

“The woman who owned it was the soul of the neighbourhood,” recalls the 68-year-old Burkett, who’s been touring original puppet shows since he was a teenager in Medicine Hat, Alta.

“She would have breast-cancer fundraisers, pet-adoption events and a wading-pool spa for the dogs in the summer. And she had this sign that they’d change the message every couple of weeks, always hopeful and positive.”

But the quotes — for repairs and for laughs — are gone: during the pandemic, a planned condominium development forced the owner to sell.

Gaza peace plan agreed to, Canada calls for immediate and unimpeded aid

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney has responded to news that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan that would pause fighting in Gaza.

On the social media platform X, the prime minister offered his congratulations to U.S. President Donald Trump for orchestrating the deal.

He also thanked Qatar, Egypt and Turkey for "their tireless work to support the negotiations."

The initial phase of the U.S.-backed peace plan calls for Hamas to release all of the 20 living hostages, and for Israel to pull its troops in Gaza back to an agreed-upon line.

Raised on food as love, local cook primed for MasterChef

The reality cooking competition is back after a three-year hiatus and a Winnipegger is one of 15 contestants vying for the $100,000 grand prize and the distinction of being dubbed one of the best home cooks in the country.

Music industry asks MPs for action on unauthorized use of works by generative AI

OTTAWA - The music industry called on the government to take action Wednesday to address unauthorized use of music by generative AI systems, helping the industry move toward a licensing system.

Representatives from music industry groups appeared before the House of Commons heritage committee, which is studying the effects of AI on creative industries.

They maintain unauthorized use amounts to theft and told members of Parliament they want copyright protection to apply. They also called for transparency requirements on AI systems' use of copyrighted materials.

The CEO of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada said AI companies should be required to disclose which copyright-protected works are ingested and stored in their systems.

Side shows: These culinary supporting roles earn the Thanksgiving spotlight

Three side-dish recipes, each with a fun twist. Enjoy Diane Nelson’s recipe for Zippy Carrots, Debbie Hurrell’s Cranberry Salad and Debbie Nolan’s Pork Sausage Stuffing.

Movie Review: ‘After the Hunt’ is less hot-button farce than tragedy

It’s not so often that the font of a movie’s opening credits is, itself, a provocation.

But in Luca Guadagnino ’s muddled but darkly absorbing “After the Hunt,” the white Windsor Light Condensed lettering against a black background, with cast in alphabetical order and soft jazz playing, is immediately recognizable as the style of a Woody Allen movie opening.

In the juggling act to follow in “After the Hunt,” where Guadagnino will playfully twirl a twisting narrative of alleged sexual assault, cancel culture, privilege in academia and Gen Z victimization, the credits are not so much an opening salvo than they are an introductory wink.

Like many an Allen film, “After the Hunt” is set among a well-educated, self-involved class. It takes place around Yale University. But unlike Allen’s anxious, existential, chattering characters, Guadagnino’s cocktail party collection of professors and students is a more scheming and unpleasant lot.

Pope Leo blasts economy that marginalizes poor while wealthy live in bubble of luxury

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV blasted how the wealthy elite live in a “bubble of comfort and luxury” while poor people suffer on the margins, confirming in his first teaching document Thursday that he is in perfect lockstep with his predecessor Pope Francis on matters of social and economic injustice.

The Vatican on Thursday released the document, entitled “I have loved you,” which Francis had begun to write in his final months but never finished. Leo, who was elected in May, credited Francis with the text, cited him repeatedly, but said he had made the document his own and signed it.

The 100-page document traces the history of Christianity’s constant concern for poor people, from Biblical citations and the teaching of church fathers to the preaching of recent popes about caring for migrants, prisoners and victims of human trafficking. Leo credits especially women’s religious orders with carrying out God’s mandate to care for the sick, feed the poor and welcome the stranger, and also praised lay-led popular movements with advocating for land, housing and work for society’s most disadvantaged.

The conclusion Leo draws is that the Catholic Church’s “preferential option for the poor” has existed from the start, is non-negotiable and is in fact the very essence of what it means to be Christian. He calls for a renewed commitment to fixing the structural causes of poverty, while providing unquestioning charity to those who need it.

Influencers — not news outlets or politicians — ‘dominated’ election online: report

OTTAWA - Influencers had the "loudest voices" online in this spring’s federal election, overtaking news outlets and politicians, says a new report.

The report from the Canadian Digital Media Research Network, co-ordinated by the McGill University and University of Toronto-led Media Ecosystem Observatory, looked at the election information environment.

Influencers were the most active in terms of frequency and volume of online posts and received the most engagement, said Aengus Bridgman, director of the Media Ecosystem Observatory.

"This is new to this election … materially different," he told The Canadian Press.