What’s up

Sounds of Manitoba kickoff with Anthony OKS and The Søbr Market

Friday, Jan. 27, 7-9 p.m.

WAG-Qaumajuq, main floor, 300 Memorial Blvd.

Free admission

The new Sounds of Manitoba series of concerts kicks off in style on Friday in the Ilavut entrance hall of WAG-Qaumajuq, presented in conjunction with Manitoba Music.

Critically acclaimed local rapper/vocalist Anthony OKS kicks off this free months-long series of shows, which will also feature future performances by Cara Luft (March 17), Erin Propp (May 12) and others.

In addition to live music, the folks at The Søbr Market will be on hand running a pop-up shop, samples of select non-alcoholic products, and will feature two non-alcoholic cocktails available for purchase at Katita Cafe that evening.

— Ben Sigurdson

The Gravedigger with Michael Lawrenchuk

Thursday, Jan. 26 to Sunday, Feb. 5, various times

Gas Station Arts Centre

Tickets: $27.50 for evening performances and $20 for matinee performances

Michael Lawrenchuck’s one-act, one-man show The Gravedigger returns to Winnipeg this week. This is the tale of a man who returns to his childhood village after decades of absence to fulfill a promise he made to himself in his youth. Battle-weary and exhausted, he arrives seeking answers and comfort.

However, while he was away, the place has changed and the people he once knew and loved are no longer alive. Everyone is buried in the graveyard. He finds himself taking on the role of the new gravedigger, a position recently vacated by the death of the previous gravedigger Samuel.

The audience joins him as he talks to the spirits of the graveyard and with the spirits of his family and friends.

Actor, director, and writer Lawrenchuk was raised by his Cree grandparents Gladys and William Moose in the small village of Gillam, Man. He is a former Chief of the Fox Lake Cree Nation.

— AV Kitching

Remembering Holocaust victims through music

Friday, Jan. 27, noon

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Admission is free

Friday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is marking the solemn occasion with a special performance by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra violinist Sonia Lazar in the Stuart Clark Garden of Contemplation at the museum.

Lazar will be performing on a violin from Violins of Hope, a project that preserves violins, violas and cellos belonging to Holocaust victims. These instruments are often displayed in museums; another Violin of Hope, this one belonging to Fanny Hecht, a Jewish violinist who was murdered along with her family by the Nazis, is currently on view in the CMHR’s Examining the Holocaust gallery. But these instruments are also still played. An important focus for Violins of Hope is ensuring that these strings continue to sing.

Lazar has been a member of the WSO’s first violin section since 2016. Born in Moscow, Russia, Lazar spent her early childhood years in Israel, on a kibbutz before her family moved to Canada. Her career has taken her everywhere, including to Carnegie Hall, where she performed as concertmaster of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in 2012.

Following the performance, Shelley Faintuch, the former director of community relations for the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, will talk about the significance of these special instruments and host a Q&A with Lazar and audience members. Admission is free but seating is limited and guests are encouraged to arrive early. For more information, visit https://humanrights.ca/event/remembering-through-music

— Jen Zoratti

Go for Soda? Go for Kim Mitchell at Club Regent

Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

Club Regent Event Centre

Tickets: $46.53-$51.93 at Ticketmaster or Casinos of Winnipeg

Singer and guitarist Kim Mitchell knows a thing or two about sustain.

He’s been a fixture on Canada’s rock scene for more than five decades, known best for No. 1 hits such as Go For Soda and Patio Lanterns, two of the country’s most notorious earworms.

Before those hits though, he fronted the Toronto band Max Webster, where Mitchell made a name for himself with hard-rock guitar skills that keep filling rooms like the Club Regent Event Centre, where he plays Friday night.

Expect Mitchell to play couple of Max Webster tracks, such as 1979’s Paradise Skies, which helped open the door to a loud-and-proud 1980s and an induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021.

— Alan Small

Wrestling at the West End

Thurs., Jan. 26, 7 p.m.

West End Cultural Centre, 586 Ellice Ave.

Tickets $20 plus fees at Eventbrite

What better way to warm up on a frosty winter eve, than by watching leotard-clad entertainers dole out piledrivers and powerbombs?

Winnipeg Pro Wrestling is bringing the ring to the West End Cultural Centre tonight for a live event hosted by the Winterruption music festival, which wraps up on Sunday.

Featured personalities include AJ Sanchez, Jody Threat, “Sweet” Bobby Schink, Devon Monroe, Red Hot Summer and Blair Onyx. Standing room tickets are still available.

The match will also include a set by Winnipeg all-female alt-rock band, The Haileys.

The waning days of Winterruption include shows by Boogey The Beat, JayWood, Len Bowen, Holy Fuck and more at the West End, Good Will Social Club, The Handsome Daughter and Park Theatre. Visit winterruptionwpg.ca for a full schedule.

— Eva Wasney

Go Digging in the Vinyl Vault

Sat., Jan. 28, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

The Power Building, 428 Portage Ave.

Listen up: after about a year and a half without its usual sales, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra’s vinyl vault is “overflowing” with new, popular and rare records. That should be music to Winnipeg audiophiles’ ears. Promoted as the city’s largest and cheapest record sale, the MCO’s vault was recently bolstered by ambient electronic LPs, plus many jazz LPS, which join an already-extensive collection of LPs, 45s, and CDs. Cash is the preference, but cheque, VISA, or Mastercard are all acceptable. The shop is also available for one-on-one appointments, bookable by emailing info@themco.ca. To keep patrons safe, the MCO asks visitors to wear masks throughout their visit.

— Ben Waldman

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