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This article was published 07/03/2024 (581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WSO showcases violinist Pouliot

• Today, 7 p.m.
• Centennial Concert Hall
• Tickets: $25-$119 at wso.ca

Fans of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra get a return visit from Toronto violinist Blake Pouliot tonight for the next edition of its Thursday Classics series.

Pouliot, who last teamed up with the WSO in 2021, will be the guest soloist for Sibelius’s Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, which is considered among the most demanding for violinists to play.

The orchestra, conducted by WSO music director Daniel Raiskin, will also perform Edvard Grieg’s Symphony in C Minor, known as the “forbidden symphony” in the classical-music canon because the Norwegian composer wrote “must never be performed” on the manuscript. It has been performed many times since his death in 1907.

Two Canadian Mennonite University music students, violinist William Harder and pianist Georg Neuhofer, will perform a selection of works prior to the WSO concert, including pieces by Bach, Rachmaninoff and American composer Florence Price.

— Alan Small

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Women in Jazz 3.0

• Today, 7:10 p.m.
• West End Cultural Centre
• Tickets: $42 ($20 for students) at winnipegjazzorchestra.com

Icelandic guest artist Sigurdís Sandra Tryggvadóttir joins the Women of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra for its third annual Women’s Day Concert in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Four new works written or arranged by women in Manitoba will be premièred at the concert, which will be led by WJO’s associate director Alexis Silver.

The concert will cap off a daylong symposium that includes a keynote by Juno-nominated bassist, composer, producer and educator Jodi Proznick, as well as a jazz instrumental and vocal creativity session and a women-in-jazz history session.

Doors for the evening concert open at 6:30 p.m. Get there early: trumpeter, vocalist and high school music teacher Alyssa Alambra will be leading a Young Women’s Jazz Ensemble in a pre-concert performance at 7:10 p.m.

— Jen Zoratti

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Dinner and a movie: Barbie

• Friday, 5 p.m.
• Metropolitan Entertainment Centre, 281 Donald St.
• Tickets: $49.99 plus fees, $39.99 for seniors 60+ at Ticketmaster

The Metropolitan Entertainment Centre continues its popular Dinner & a Movie series this week with a screening of the runaway hit of the summer: Barbie.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie, with Ryan Gosling playing opposite as Ken and a cast that includes Will Ferrell, Michael Cera and more. Barbie was not only a commercial success, taking the top spot as the highest-grossing film of 2023 (at over US$1.4 billion), but was also praised by critics — it’s up for eight Oscars at this weekend’s Academy Awards.

The Met’s dinner buffet opens at 5 p.m. and runs to 6:45 p.m., leaving people plenty of time to load up on food and top up their drink at the bar before the lights go down for Barbie at 7:15 p.m. Prior to the start of the movie, guests will be treated to a fresh bag of hot buttered popcorn; an intermission halfway through the film also allows guests to grab some coffee and a dessert.

The event is limited to ages 16 and up. Those who don’t purchase a complete table may be seated with other ticket holders.

— Ben Sigurdson

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Secret Lives of Animals

• Runs to Tuesday (Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., evenings by appointment)
• Meet the artist on Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.
• Cre8ery Gallery and Studio, 125 Adelaide St.

Winnipeg artist Brian Longfield’s Lives & Times: Conceptual Wildlife Art, is a collection of work from his series of animal portraits and trail camera painting. Longfield’s work, in his words, is an exploration of empathy, mortality and documentation as they pertain to the secret lives of animals.

His animal portraits and paintings of photographs aim to maintain a relationship with scientific observation through painting.

The trail camera paintings include elements of data captured by the camera such as the temperature, date and time, while the animal portraits are accompanied by fictionalized zoological text panels.

— AV Kitching

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Do you collect rocks?

• Thursday to Sunday
• Red River Exhibition Place, 3977 Portage Ave.
• Tickets: $2 per person or $5 per family

Rocks, gems, jewels and crystals — find all manner of precious stones, mystical minerals and geological artifacts at Red River Exhibition Place this weekend during the annual Winnipeg Rock N’ Gem Show.

Dozens of vendors will be stationed throughout the 40,000-square-foot hall selling everything from fossils to jewelry to home decor items. The event is hosted by Silver Cove, a large Canadian gem and mineral company, which runs similar yearly conventions across the country.

The doors are open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and until 5 p.m. on Sunday. Kids five and younger get in free.

— Eva Wasney

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Matt Rife visits the Burt for four-show stand

• Saturday and Sunday
• Burton Cummings Theatre, 364 Smith St.
• Sold out

Who is Matt Rife? Just two years ago, he was a relatively anonymous comedian from North Lewisburg, Ohio. Then he exploded on TikTok, posting a few slices of crowdwork on the video-sharing app that kickstarted his career. Now, Rife, 28, has 18.3 million followers on the app, and a virtually sold-out world tour on his hands, as well as a Netflix special, Natural Selection.

Rife lands in Winnipeg for his four-show stay this weekend, playing a pair of shows on Saturday and Sunday as part of his Problemattic World Tour. All four shows are sold out.

— Ben Waldman

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