Winnipeg Arts Council

City of Song - Winnipeg 150

Winnipeg is known across Canada for the music it creates and for its exceptional numbers of singers and choirs, and fittingly, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary through a year of song.

Celebrating the best of our community spirit and artistic excellence, City of Song will showcase the best of Winnipeg’s local talents, be inspired by guest performers from across Canada, and create opportunities for Winnipeggers to engage in the power of singing with friends and neighbours across the city.

From opera, to musicals, to choral concerts, to singer songwriters, jazz singers, throat singers, Indigenous chanters, country crooners, rappers, children’s choirs, and community singing events, this program will showcase the best of Winnipeg’s singing community throughout the year. It will bring Winnipeggers together in a celebration of community, history, harmony, intercultural collaboration, and hope for the future.

City of Song will include

  • Gala Choral Concerts throughout the year.
  • The Pub Singing Series taking place in coffee shops, restaurants, or pubs, featuring many different types of music, from sea shanties to madrigals to rock and roll classics.
  • Singing Together in more formal venues, with accompaniment of groups like the WSO, the MCO, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, and much more. Winnipeggers love to sing out, backed by some of the finest musicians in the city.
  • Mass Appeal, a 100% participatory event where singers access repertoire online and learn independently, then meet at a predetermined time and place to perform a free concert for the public.
  • Community Singalongs and Random Acts of Singing are where the audience is part of the performance rather than simply watching it.

The Winnipeg Arts Council is partnering with the Manitoba Choral Association and with many of the city’s performing arts organizations to include elements of choral music in their season programming throughout 2024.

Stay tuned for more info!

Funding assistance for City of Song has been provided by the Manitoba government and the Government of Canada.

Please note, the Winnipeg 150 Community Celebration Grant is managed directly by the City of Winnipeg and is not a Winnipeg Arts Council initiative. For more information about this program please visit the City of Winnipeg.