MCO’s new season will have piano fans keyed up

United Way, other charities fight for dollars as donor base shrinks

Winnipeg’s charitable sector is being squeezed from both sides: demand for help is growing while the pool of donors to meet that need is shrinking.

The imbalance is increasingly being carried by a relatively small group of deep-pocketed donors. Last year, 600 people — about three per cent of United Way Winnipeg’s individual donors — accounted for roughly $8 million, or 55 per cent of individual donations.

The fundraising pitch isn’t getting any easier.

Homelessness and public drug use have become increasingly visible, household budgets remain strained and the problems charities are trying to address can seem so entrenched that donors may reasonably wonder what difference another contribution can make.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: After 12:15 a.m., there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The moon is in Capricorn.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

This is a tricky day. Don’t be too ambitious. It’s totally OK to kick back and relax. But be aware that communications with parents and authority figures might be confused, vague or subject to misunderstandings. Nevertheless, romance is sweet and cosy!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Jets vets weigh in on franchise goalie Hellebuyck not reporting to training camp

Hockey is the ultimate team sport, where it’s supposed to be about the crest on your chest rather than the name on your back.

So how is Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request and subsequent training camp strike playing out inside the Winnipeg Jets locker room — particularly among other core players he’s gone to battle with over the years?

“Obviously the news is heartbreaking,” Jets forward Kyle Connor said Thursday.

“It feels like we had such a special group here and for whatever reason — I can’t speak to the reason until we hear from the man, I’m not going to speculate on what it is but I know that a lot of guys in that room that are heartbroken.”

Klein has burned bridges with PM, Gillingham says

One mayoral candidate accused another of writing a column so critical it could compromise his ability to work with the federal government.

MCO’s new season will have piano fans keyed up

The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra will kick off its 2020-21 season with some high notes.

And those notes will be sung by two of Winnipeg’s greatest sopranos — Tracy Dahl and Andriana Chuchman. The two internationally renowned opera singers will be backed by the MCO for classic duos and arias on Oct. 7 at the MCO’s home, Westminster United Church.

Another crescendo in the season will be the appearance of British pianist, author and painter Stephen Hough, who has been described as one of the top 25 pianists of all time, according to London-based digital music station Classic FM, and one of the top 20 living polymaths, according to The Economist magazine. On Feb. 23, 2021, Hough will play pieces by Chopin and Schumann, among others.

Other shows on the MCO agenda for 2020-21:

Cabernet Sauvignon star of wine festival

The Winnipeg Wine Festival will celebrate the king of red wine grapes next weekend — the theme of this year’s festival, which takes place Sept. 25 and 26 at the RBC Convention Centre, is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cab Sauv, as it’s also known, is the world’s most widely planted wine grape of any colour, first coming to prominence in the 1800s in France’s Bordeaux region, where the grape is still popular. Rather than single-variety wines, Bordeaux reds tend to be blends, with those coming from the left bank of the Gironde estuary being Cabernet-dominant, while right-bank wines are Merlot-dominant, with Cabernet Sauvignon playing a supporting role. Cabernet and Merlot work well together and many other countries have followed suit in blending the two.

A team at University of California Davis put Cabernet Sauvignon through a DNA test in 1996 and discovered its parent grapes are Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc — it’s likely that at some point the two varieties, planted next to each other in some vineyard, crossed and mutated and became the grape we know today. (Someone growing grapes in the 19th century must have had an inkling of what was up, as the grape has been called Cabernet Sauvignon since long before the DNA test.)

Flavour-wise, most Cabernet Sauvignon wines are big and bold, with a core of deep dark berry flavours, some graphite and spice notes and relatively bright acidity. It’s a grape that is well-suited to barrel aging, with most examples seeing at least some time in wood.