Power of Imagination – Mennonite Community Orchestra

Mennonite Community Orchestra Gives Voice to Unique Perspectives: News Release

Winnipeg, MB, September, 2024

The November concert of the Mennonite Community Orchestra, CMU’s Orchestra in Residence, is entitled “Giving Voice”. Voices represented will include composers from several cultures and student violin soloist Will Harder. The Clan Mother’s Healing Village, Goodwill Partner for the event, will also have a voice.

The unique musical perspectives presented include Danzon No. 2, by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez, which gathers rhythms of Latin America in a crescendo of excitement. Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saens explores the capacity of the voice of the violin, under the hands of soloist Will Harder, to dazzle, dizzy and delight. Harder was the winner of CMU’s Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis presents the voice of string orchestra and string soloists. Our final piece, Bizet’s Carmen Suite, sings impassioned stories of love, life and death from the famous opera.

The Goodwill Partner for the event is Clan Mothers Healing Village & Knowledge Centre. The Clan Mother’s are developing a land-based healing village for Indigenous women and girls, two- spirit and transgender persons in a community living environment, incorporating traditional Indigenous healing and spiritual mentorship, while encouraging individual growth through programming, training and social enterprise.

The Giving Voice concert will take place Sunday, November at 3 PM at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 560 Arlington St. More information at mennonitecommunityorchestra.ca

For further media information:

Bob Wiebe, President MCO: 204 837 3967, bwiebe@enlivenconsulting.ca

Power of Imagination: News Release

Winnipeg, MB, February 15, 2024

The Mennonite Community Orchestra in collaboration with the Sunshine Fund will present a concert for children and the young at heart. The concert, slated for March 17 at Lutheran Church of the Cross, will explore “The Power of Imagination“, the precious gift of artists as they see and hear new visuals, stories and music.

The Power of Imagination concert will feature Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf (A Symphonic Tale for Children), which provides an introduction to the instruments of the orchestra. Sue Sorensen, Professor of English at CMU, will be the narrator.

Also on the program is the overture to the opera The Magic Flute by Mozart, whose fertile imagination made him a the master of musical story telling. The orchestra will also perform Gustav Host’s “Mars”, one of the seven planets portrayed musically in his suite “The Planets”. Works by Haydn and Vivaldi will round out the program.

The Goodwill Partner for the concert is the Sunshine Fund, the arm of the Manitoba Camping Association which raises money to to enable families to send their children to camp when financial limitations might otherwise prevent. The camp experience builds self worth in individuals and a spirit of acceptance and collaboration within the camp community.

Andrea Bell returns to lead the orchestra as it presents an afternoon to appreciate the creative gifts of self and others, and to imagine how to make the world a better place.

The Mennonite Community Orchestra’s Power of Imagination concert will be held Sunday, March 17 at 3 PM at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, 560 Arlington St. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students, with children 16 and under accompanied by an adult admitted at no charge. See the website at mennonitecommunityorchestra.ca for further details.

For further media information:

Bob Wiebe, President MCO: 204 837 3967, bwiebe@enlivenconsulting.ca