Ten noteworthy concerts on classical calendar

Welcome to your brand new arts season! Winnipeg is well known for punching above its weight in world-class performances, and this year proves no exception.

Here is a list of 10 concerts that have caught my eye from now until the snow flies, listed (mostly) in chronological order:

1) The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra launches its next chapter under new concertmaster Karl Stobbe. A pair of back-to-back concerts, Volodin Plays Tchaikovsky, led by Daniel Raiskin, features internationally acclaimed pianist Alexei Volodin performing two different works by the Russian composer on Saturday, Sept 27, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 28, 2 p.m. For more details, see wso.ca.

2) If you still need more (and who wouldn’t?), the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg also showcases the virtuoso in a solo recital at the Desautels Concert Hall on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. Visit wmcwpg.ca.

3) Next up on WMC’s playlist is Fierbois, an intimate chamber concert co-presented with Prairie Debut, featuring oboist Caitlin Broms-Jacobs with collaborative pianist Madeline Hildebrand at the Laudamus Auditorium, Oct. 26, 2 p.m.

4) Manitoba has long been hailed as the “singing province,” and this year’s bumper crop of stirring choral concerts contributes to that well-deserved reputation. The Winnipeg Singers led by Yuri Klaz performs a celestial-inspired program, Skyscapes, under a starry night sky at Manitoba Museum’s Planetarium on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. See winnipegsingers.com.

5) The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Anne Manson, kicks off its 2025/26 season with another superstar violinist, Canada’s own Kerson Leong, on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Crescent Arts Centre. Lauded by Le Mondefor his “mixture of spontaneity and mastery, elegance, fantasy (and) intensity,” the opening program, titled Seasons Ascending, features the dynamo in Max Richter’s Seasons Recomposed, an arresting, contemporary mash-up of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Seem themco.ca.

6) Cello lovers, rejoice! Agassiz Chamber Music Festival presents its third International Cello Festival including five nightly concerts that run Oct. 28-Nov. 1 at various locales (see sidebar). Internationally acclaimed artists include Colin Carr, Bryan Cheng, Cameron Crozman, David Liam Roberts, Juliana Moroz and Denise Djokic, among many others. Don’t miss the grand finale co-presented with the WSO, including an 80-member cello choir that closes the festival with a bang on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. Check out www.agassizfestival.com/international-cello-festival-of-canada

7) Included with the fest is Dead of Winter’s The Ocean in a Drop. The vocal group founded by composer/conductor Andrew Balfour performs a soulful program of medieval and contemporary works on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m., at the Desautels Concert Hall. Visit: deadofwinter.ca.

8) The venerable Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir — also led by Klaz — is celebrating its 103rd anniversary, bringing joy to the world with this year’s festive concert, Let there be Peace, taking place at the Crescent Arts Centre, with two shows offered on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. More details can be found at thephil.ca/concerts.

9) In the wake of COVID-19, comedies sprang out of the ravaged arts landscape as a salve for pandemic-weary spirits, with arts groups around the globe now daring to program darker, more gripping works. Manitoba Opera is among them, with its season-opener, Tosca. The Puccini work about a famous, fiery singer who lives and dies for love shows Nov. 22, 26 and 28 at the Centennial Concert Hall. This season also marks current interim artistic director Larry Desrochers’s final season after 25 years at the helm as general manager and CEO. For more info, visit mbopera.ca.

10) In the so-cool-it-hurts category is GroundSwell’s North/South, a contemporary program being held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery/Qaumajuq on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m., featuring throat songs by Nikki Komaksiutiksak and Caramello Swan. The program also includes group improvisations inspired by the breathtaking Inuit artwork on display in the gallery’s Main Hall. More details? See gswell.ca.

This is only the tip of the iceberg so get out there and enjoy live music – the arts are waiting for you!

holly.harris@shaw.ca