Name: ᐊᐊᐧᓱᐃᐧᐣ Awasowin
Start: 2025-05-01T19:30:00
Location: Canadian Museum for Human Rights

As the snow melts and spring ushers in a new symphonic season, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra presents a captivating series of performances. From the soulful notes of a saxophone to the otherworldly echoes of nature, these concerts promise a rich tapestry of sounds and stories. Highlights include Allen Harrington's masterful saxophone interpretations and the stirring compositions of Cris Derksen. Whether in the intimate setting of the Crescent Arts Centre or the commanding presence of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, these events celebrate the enduring connection between humanity and music.

A Symphony of Seasons: Manitoba Chamber Orchestra's 2025 Events

This spring, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra offers an enthralling array of performances, each promising a unique auditory experience. From saxophone serenades heralding the arrival of spring to evocative tales of humanity’s bond with nature, these events feature celebrated artists like Allen Harrington and Cris Derksen. Join us at the Crescent Arts Centre and Canadian Museum for Human Rights for a season filled with extraordinary music, where each concert highlights a tapestry of genres and artistry.

A Melodic Journey Through Spring: Manitoba Chamber Orchestra's 2025 Showcase

Embark on a captivating journey through the world of orchestral music as the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra presents three distinctive events: 'Solace', 'ᐊᐊᐧᓱᐃᐧᐣ Awasowin', and 'Dawn & Dusk'. These performances offer a refreshing escape into the soulful compositions of renowned artists and composers, each telling unique stories of cultural and emotional depth through their melodies. Experience these breathtaking performances in the heart of Winnipeg, where music bridges connections, ignites emotions, and celebrates artistic brilliance.

Musical Journeys: A Celebration of Sound and Soul

Cris Derksen

Larry Strachan

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra

With the depth of her timbre, the equality of her voice, the mastery of her breath, the emotion of her singing and her striking charisma, Rose Naggar-Tremblay has made a stunning entrance onto the musical scene. An accomplished musician, she frequently devotes her voice to chamber music. Naggar-Tremblay's debut album, Händel Gourmand, was released in 2025.

1 / Gilded Indulgence

Crescent Arts Centre

Born in Germany, trained in New York City, and now based in Canada, Juno Award–winning pianist and composer Florian Hoefner has forged a distinctive voice in modern jazz. Praised by the New York Times as a “composer-bandleader of insightful resolve” and described by Downbeat Magazine as a “harmonically daring pianist […] reaching toward new sonic territory,” he is internationally recognized for his inventive writing and expressive playing.

Award-winning musician and composer Lucas Pino has performed at some of the world’s most esteemed festivals and venues. As a tenor saxophonist and multi-woodwind player, his unique and lyrical approach make him one of the most in-demand side musicians across generations. He serves as Co-Artistic Director of the Brubeck Jazz Summit.

John Hébert (double bass) is a New Orleans-born, New York-based bassist widely regarded as one of the most versatile and in-demand voices in contemporary jazz. His most recent album, Sounds of Love (2022), pays tribute to the ensemble vision of Charles Mingus, and he performs regularly at New York's Village Vanguard, Smalls, Mezzrow, and leading festivals worldwide.

2 / The Way Of Water 

University of Manitoba

Fresh off a JUNO-nominated recording, cellist Stéphane Tétreault brings his dynamic presence to Airat Ichmouratov’s emotionally gripping Cello Concerto No. 1 — transforming paintings into sound with lush lyricism, folk colour, theatrical surprise, and virtuosic flair.

In addition to innumerous awards and honours, Stéphane Tétreault is the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. He is also the laureate of the 2022 Prix Opus for “Performer of the Year”, awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique and accompanied by a Canada Council grant.

3 / Perpetual Motion 

Part one of a two-concert tribute marking Philip Glass’s 90th year. A celebration of the contemporary canon, revisiting repertoire from the MCO’s acclaimed 2012 recording that helped define the orchestra’s artistic identity.

Simone Dinnerstein is an American pianist with a distinctive musical voice. The Washington Post has called her “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”

4 / Glass Reflections: The Hours 

The second part of our Philip Glass celebration features the return of one of Canada’s leading violinists in the sweeping lyricism and driving momentum of the Violin Concerto No. 2, bringing The American Four Seasons vividly to life.

Kerson Leong has been described as “not just one of Canada’s greatest violinists but one of the greatest violinists, period” (Toronto Star). Forging a unique path since his First Prize win at the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in 2010, he continues to win over colleagues and audiences alike with “a mixture of spontaneity and mastery, elegance, fantasy, intensity that makes his sound recognizable from the first notes” (Le Monde).

5 / Glass Reflections: The Seasons

An immersive evening where music, movement, and memory come together through the work of Cree artist V.J. Sparvier-Wells. Blending flute, hoop dance, and chamber orchestra, this program draws on the sounds, landscapes, and experiences of the Prairies.

6 / Sky Dances

The Forks

Hailed for his athletic and virtuoso playing and for his sensitive interpretations, recorder player Vincent Lauzer leads an active career as a performer, artistic director, and teacher. He is the artistic director of the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival, the youth development program coordinator for Arion Baroque Orchestra, and the co-artistic director of the Montreal Baroque Festival.

7 / Tilting At Windmills

Set within the ruins of St. Boniface Cathedral, this season finale features Winnipeg’s own Andriana Chuchman in a homecoming performance alongside Persian-Canadian countertenor Cameron Shahbazi. Together, they bring Pergolesi’s emotionally charged Stabat Mater into dramatic relief.

Ukrainian-Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman has earned much acclaim for her performances in a wide range of repertoire including the heroines of Mozart and Handel, 20th century masterpieces, and the premieres of new operas and orchestral works. Born in Winnipeg, Ms. Chuchman received her Bachelor's Degree in Voice Performance from the School of Music at the University of Manitoba, where in her final year she won the Zita Bernstein Lieder Competition.

Rising countertenor Cameron Shahbazi, praised for his “full, voluminous” voice and “personal and beautiful” timbre (De Trouw), is celebrated for his acclaimed interpretations of both baroque and contemporary music. In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious Opus Klassik Award in the Innovative Concert of the Year category for his brainchild, entitled Woman. Life. Freedom: A Benefit Concert for Human Rights in Iran.

8 / Vox Sacra

St. Boniface Cathedral

Gather and warm yourself by the fire. Through sublime music, spoken word, and the sounds of nature, the trailblazing cellist-composer immerses us in stories about humanity’s connection to the earth.

ᐊᐊᐧᓱᐃᐧᐣ Awasowin

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