Protest songs capture horror, hope in times of turmoil

Bruce Springsteen has always held a mirror up to America.

Sometimes that looks like 1975’s Born to Run, about escaping small-town suffocation and hitting the open road. Sometimes that looks like 2001’s American Skin (41 Shots), about the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean student who was hit by 19 of the 41 rounds fired at him by the NYPD. And sometimes that looks like 1993’s Streets of Philadelphia, which was about the AIDS crisis.

On Wednesday, Springsteen released Streets of Minneapolis, an appropriately Dylan-esque protest song about ICE’s reign of terror in Minnesota. The Boss does not mince words, calling out “Trump’s thugs,” “Miller and Noem’s dirty lies” and naming the two “left to die on snow-filled streets,” Alex Pretti and Renée Good.

No, it’s not subtle. But it can’t be. These are not times for subtlety.

Métis-Canadian soprano exploring portrayals of Indigenous women in opera stresses need for joy, humour

While historically opera has been divided into comedies and tragedies, buffa and seria, Camryn Dewar believes Canada’s recent operas have tended to be overly solemn when tackling certain difficult subjects.

The Métis-Canadian soprano is thinking, in particular, about the representation of Indigenous issues — a lightning rod for both government funding and critical scrutiny in Canadian culture.

“Lots of (operas) tackle the struggle and the loss, but not many of them feature Indigenous joy and humour,” she says. “And that’s something that’s really necessary because it helps with normalization, showing us as normal people.”

Dewar, a Fulbright Scholar with a newly minted master of music in vocal performance from Montclair State University, is on a Canadian tour showcasing Indigenous Female Representation in Opera, 1879–Present. Part lecture, part singing performance, the presentation had its first Winnipeg stop last week at the University of Manitoba and returns to the Canadian Mennonite University at 11:30 a.m., March 12, in the Laudamus Auditorium.

Profiter de l’hiver en musique

Depuis plus de vingt ans, le festival Music ‘N’ Mavens s’est donné pour mission de transformer l’hiver winnipegois en saison de rencontres, en misant sur la curiosité culturelle et le plaisir de se retrouver. Jusqu’au 26 mars, au Rady Jewish Community Centre (Rady JCC), la série propose chaque mardi et jeudi après-midi des concerts et des conférences pensés comme des instants de rencontre.

À contre-courant des habitudes culturelles, Music ‘N’ Mavens assume pleinement son créneau de jour avec des concerts et conférences en plein après-midi.

”Je me souviens qu’au début, on me demandait comment je pouvais penser que les gens viendraient à 14 heures quand il fait -30 degrés,” raconte Karla Berbrayer, fondatrice et directrice artistique du festival. Je leur répondais qu’il fallait une raison pour quitter la maison. Et aujourd’hui, plusieurs me disent que c’est la raison qui les pousse à sortir pendant la journée.”

À l’initiative du projet, l’on retrouve Karla Berbrayer, polyglotte et francophile, elle a nourri son intérêt pour la langue française qu’elle a commencé à apprendre en école d’immersion. La fondatrice défend depuis le départ une idée simple, celle d’offrir des propositions artistiques, sociales et culturelles à un moment de la journée souvent négligé.

‘We’re going up, up, up’: K-pop dominated Canada’s YouTube viewing trends in 2025

If YouTube’s year-end data is any clue, Canada is deeply in its K-pop era.

The streaming platform says Netflix’s hit animated musical film “KPop Demon Hunters” was a major driver of engagement in 2025, with several of its tracks becoming Canada’s most-watched music videos and shorts.

Meanwhile, “APT” — American singer Bruno Mars’ collaboration with K-pop star Rosé — ranked as the country’s top song of the year. It also became the fastest K-pop track to reach 1 billion views on YouTube, beating "Gangnam Style."

“KPop Demon Hunters” songs including “Golden,” “How It’s Done” and “Soda Pop” also cracked the top songs list, with the latter additionally ranking among the country’s most-watched shorts, which are YouTube's vertical short-form videos.

Sony, Warner and Universal sign AI music licensing deals with startup Klay

LONDON (AP) — The world's biggest music labels have struck AI licensing deals with a little-known startup named Klay Vision, the companies said Thursday, the latest in a series of deals that underlines how the technology is shaking up the music industry ’s business model.

Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, and their publishing arms, all signed separate agreements with Klay, according to an announcement posted on Warner's website.

It comes a day after Warner inked two other deals involving artificial intelligence, with startups Udio and Stability AI.

There were few details released about the agreements or about Klay, which is based in Los Angeles, and what it does.

High score: Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra goes from joysticks to drumsticks

There is, evidently, a lot of crossover between band nerds and video game enthusiasts.

The Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra has levelled up at an impressive pace, attracting about 70 like-minded players since forming earlier this spring.

The ensemble is set to perform its first major concert at Jubilee Place on Friday featuring background music from Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda and other well-known games.

“We grew very, very quickly,” says director Dann Bjornson, who isn’t entirely surprised by the overwhelming local interest.

Croft Music plays finale after century-plus in business

A 110-year-old music instrument business has concluded its coda.

On Saturday, Ian Crowson closed the doors for good on Croft Music and began his retirement. The company specialized in selling and renting string instruments — particularly violins — and sold accessories and sheet music.

For the last 23 years, Croft Music worked in tandem with Violins by Anton, a one-man business operated by luthier Anton Domozhyrov. Crowson rented instruments and Domozhyrov repaired them out of the same location at 833 Henderson Hwy. Domozhyrov will continue running Violins by Anton in the building.

Crowson announced his retirement on Facebook at the end of May, writing that he would finish his career shortly after his 72nd birthday in September.

Offhand insult in 2003 gave rise to the Banjo Bowl — one of CFL's most-colourful and enduring rivalries

It was the verbal shot heard ’round the world. Or at least, across a pair of Prairie provinces.

Canadian Football League fans in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are well familiar with the origin of the Banjo Bowl, the annual tilt that pits the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers against their principal rival, the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Followers of both teams can tell you that the match evolved out of a comment uttered by former Bombers placekicker Troy Westwood in September 2003, when he sarcastically referred to Saskatchewaners (Saskatchewanites? Saskatchewians?) as “banjo-picking inbreds.”

Then, how he doubled down on that jibe a few weeks later when, at a scheduled news conference, he told members of the media that he had misspoken, as “the vast majority of the people in Saskatchewan have no idea how to play the banjo.” (For the record, Westwood’s mom was born in the Land of the Living Skies, and his aunts and grandmother were living there when he was spouting off.)

Hotel-weary evacuees guests at powwow

SIOUX VALLEY DAKOTA NATION — Evacuees displaced from their communities in northern Manitoba were invited to Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on Friday for what the chief called a mental health day.

A hundred people were at the afternoon event when the Brandon Sun visited.

The event, which included live music, games and children’s entertainment, was a way to give a day of fresh air to evacuees, Chief Vince Tacan said.

“We thought we’d give our relatives from the north a mental health day, because staying in hotels gets hard after a while,” Tacan said.

Green chemist and musician on fighting climate change

There’s no shortage of doom and gloom associated with the words “climate change” these days. As a result, many people are stressed out and feeling helpless.

Particularly concerning is that, more than ever, younger people are experiencing considerable distress with environmental anxiety, also known as eco-anxiety or climate anxiety. The Journal of Mental Health and Climate Change, an open-access publication that features interdisciplinary scientific research on mental health and climate change, continues to write extensively on this subject.

While prominent environmental activists, including well-known science broadcaster David Suzuki, paint a bleak picture of the future, many other professionals in various fields are working tirelessly to educate, inspire and fight the good fight for the next generations.

Born and raised in Lynn Lake, Man., Devin Latimer is one of those professionals. The faculty member in chemistry at the University of Winnipeg is also a long-time musician, bass player with local band Leaf Rapids and the Juno award-winning Nathan Music Co.

Big Ocean breaks new ground as K-pop’s first deaf group

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Big Ocean, a three-member K-pop group composed entirely of artists with hearing disabilities, is redefining the limits of music and performance — one beat at a time.

When Big Ocean takes the stage, they seamlessly incorporate sign language into their performances. But their polished shows are built on extensive preparation using high-tech tools born from necessity — vibrating smartwatches that pulse with musical beats and LED visual metronomes that flash timing cues during practice sessions. This technological approach represents significant progress in South Korea’s entertainment industry, where career opportunities for people with disabilities have historically been limited.

The trio, PJ, Jiseok and Chanyeon, made their debut in April 2024 and recently wrapped a solo European tour marking their first anniversary. The band performed in four countries, including France and the U.K., while promoting their second mini-album, “Underwater,” which dropped on April 20.

PJ rose to prominence as a YouTuber who educated viewers about hearing disabilities. Chanyeon previously worked as an audiologist. Jiseok was a professional ski racer.

Miss Shakespeare turns gender bias on its ear

Winnipeg Studio Theatre kicked off its season with the guts and glory of female empowerment in its all-women-led local premiere of Miss Shakespeare.

The two-hour musical — directed by company artistic director Erin McGrath and presented by Rainbow Stage — runs through Oct. 5 at the University of Winnipeg’s Asper Centre for Theatre and Film. Saturday night’s crowd eagerly lapped up its feminist ethos.

Its quasi-historical protagonist, Judith Shakespeare (played by a spunky Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu), is the Bard’s real-life daughter “born with a poetic soul.” Judith lives in the shadows of her famous father during the repressive 1600s, when women were relegated to becoming wives and mothers, rather than pursuing their own passions.

Judith yearns for her own identity as a self-actualized creative powerhouse, and cobbles together the “Gossips,” a merry band of like-minded women who surreptitiously meet each week in the bowels of The Cage tavern to create a play. They spar, share stories, and dream, risking public humiliation if they’re discovered treading the boards like their male counterparts.

Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

They say laughter is the best medicine. Throw a little song-and-dance into the mix and you get Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System — an 11-part web microseries that humorously addresses Canada’s ailing medical system through music and satire.

Sara Kreindler, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba, spearheads the show, drawing from her extensive research.

“It’s about starting a conversation,” says writer-composer Kreindler, who has a PhD in social psychology. “Whether you’re a health-care provider or just someone curious about the system, I want viewers to come away feeling empowered to hold our elected leaders accountable for addressing the underlying issues.”

Through the character of Larry, played by Winnipeg actor Toby Hughes, viewers embark on a journey navigating the complexities of health-care policy.

Traversant le Canada en 20 chansons

De La Rochelle à la Colombie-Britannique en passant par l’Acadie, le Québec, l’Ontario et les Prairies, voici le voyage que proposera la chorale québécoise En Supplément’Air dans la Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface à l’occasion du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération canadienne, le 11 juillet.

Le Chœur En Supplément’Air a été fondé en 2015 par Carole Bellavance, la directrice artistique de la chorale. “Cette année, le chœur compte 300 choristes de toute la province du Québec. Tous les étés, nous organisons une tournée avec une quarantaine d’entre eux. Nous sommes partis le 3 juillet pour un premier concert à Ottawa, puis nous nous rendrons à North Bay, Sault Sainte-Marie, Thunder Bay. Nous terminerons à Winnipeg le 11 juillet,” Bellavance a dit.

C’est la première fois que le chœur se déplace aussi loin à l’ouest du Canada. “Avec notre spectacle Le périple de la chanson francophone en Haute-Amérique, nous voulons faire valoir l’histoire de la chanson francophone au Canada à travers le temps. Nous avons choisi des chansons de partout pour mettre en valeur les régions. Le propos se prête bien à la grande aventure de la francophonie canadienne. J’ai profité du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération pour faire vivre aux choristes les chansons francophones canadiennes, et pas seulement québécoises.”

Harmonisé et orchestré par François Couture, le spectacle met la culture francophone au premier plan. “La culture francophone a été apportée de l’Europe. Pour illustrer cela, notre première chanson s’intitule Je pars à l’autre bout du monde. Au début du spectacle, on se sent vraiment à La Rochelle. Ensuite, on arrive dans les Maritimes avec des chansons qui reflètent l’histoire de l’Acadie, puis du Québec, et le développement de l’Ontario. Nous suivons le trajet de la chanson francophone, d’est en ouest.”

Drumming program connects Southeast Asian students with traditional instrument, heritage

For many young musicians at Arthur E. Wright School, tabla class begins with a bow and tapping their music teacher’s toes.

Amjad Sabir isn’t all that fussy about formalities, but he recognizes his students’ families have taught them these gestures are important to show respect towards their Indo-Canadian elders.

“I just want to spread this art,” said Sabir, who is affectionately known as “guruji” — meaning esteemed teacher in Hindi and Punjabi — inside the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 building in the Maples.

The art in question? A pair of hand drums, known as tabla, that create a wide range of tones.

Belated Lunar New Year party a feast of Korean culture

For the last month, Andrea Kitano has been spending her weekends hosting hanbok fashion shows at shopping centres across Winnipeg.

‘Anti-social’ dancer fell in love with metal, ‘community’ at WECC

Dammecia Hall is an artist, and for her that means spending a lot of time by herself.

“I’m extremely anti-social,” says the dancer, choreographer and educator. “But as soon as you put me in a social environment, I come alive.”

One of the social environments Hall finds herself in these days is the West End Cultural Centre, the non-profit performance venue inside a former church at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

While attending an event at the WECC, a friend of a friend encouraged Hall to volunteer at the venue. The 43-year-old Wolseley resident applied soon after, and has been volunteering at the WECC for more than a year.

New Music Festival explores theme of technology amid global rise of AI

This year’s New Music Festival runs Jan. 21-29 and includes six events.

Teen quartet We’re Only Here for the Snacks to release debut album on limited-edition Winnipeg-inspired vinyl

The teenage instrumental indie-rock quartet will launch its debut album, Missed Our Stop, Sunday at the West End Cultural Centre.

Music Go Round gears up for Canadian grand opening

Keith Dixon has fond memories of learning to play his sister’s guitar in 2005. Three years later, he acquired an axe of his own — a Gibson Les Paul with a cherry sunburst finish.

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.

New documentary revisits Lilith Fair, gives it the overdue kudos it deserves

In the opening moments of Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, a new documentary about the pioneering all-women touring festival co-founded by Canadian icon Sarah McLachlan in the late 1990s, there’s a series of TikTok videos fronted by gen Z women expressing wonder and astonishment that something like that ever even existed.

“There was an all-female music festival from 1997 to 1999 — and I am shook to my core,” one woman says.

Ally Pankiw, the film’s director, is not surprised younger generations have never heard of Lilith Fair.

“It was not celebrated for how massive it was,” says the Canadian film/TV writer and director (Feel Good, Shrill). “It was so commercially successful. It changed so many artists’ trajectories and careers. It raised so much money for charity.

Winnipeg independent music magazine Stylus set to fold

The future of Stylus Magazine, Winnipeg’s flagship indie music publication, is in jeopardy.