Desautels Concert Series

Stumble On (Schubert’s Winter Journey Re-Imagined)

For a new take on Franz Schubert’s iconic song cycle Winterreise, set to poetry by Wilhem Müller, baritone Mel Braun and pianist Laura Loewen will be joined by award-winning poet Hannah Green and rock band VVonder in a presentation where contemporary understandings of isolation, loss, obsession, and addiction shed today’s light on the plight of Müller’s homeless 19th century wanderer.

Sunday, September 28, 2025 | 2:00 p.m.

Beyond Ideas

Enjoy an afternoon of original arrangements and compositions, presented by DFOM Jazz faculty: Will Bonness – piano, Fabio Ragnelli – drums, Jonathan Challoner – trumpet, Jon Gordon – alto saxophone, Karly Epp – voice, and Karl Kohut – bass.

Sunday, October 19, 2025 | 2:00 p.m.

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Melody McKiver and Guests in Concert

Melody McKiver (Lac Seul First Nation), an Anishinaabe violist and composer, celebrates the 2026 release of their sophomore full-length album. The forthcoming album continues McKiver’s trajectory as an “Anishinaabe musician changing the way we think about the viola” (CBC Music). Performing on electrified acoustic viola and a custom 3D-printed five-string viola, McKiver bridges Western classical performance practice with post-rock inspired effects and Anishinaabe methodologies. McKiver will be joined in performance by Ottawa-based pianist and composer (and yes, mother!) Beverley McKiver (Lac Seul First Nation), the celebrated Wolostoq artist Jeremy Dutcher – the only multiple recipient of the prestigious Polaris Prize, and Métis drummer Daniel Roy.

Sunday, January 4, 2026 | 2:00 p.m.

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Venus Unhinged

The Winnipeg Chamber Winds Collective, founded and conducted by Jacquie Dawson, presents Venus Unhinged, presents a varied program of works for chamber ensemble, including a four-movement song cycle by Amanda Harberg about the risks and troubles of romantic love. Drawing inspiration from poets Eliza Griswold and Margaret Atwood, the composer says the songs portray the dangers of love such as chaos, lack of control, heartbreak, unrequited love and loneliness.

Sunday, January 18, 2026 | 7:30 p.m.*
*NOTE EVENING TIME

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Piano Masterworks

Pianist Edmund Dawe, Dean Emeritus of the Desautels Faculty of Music, returns to Winnipeg to perform a program of piano solo masterworks on the Concert Hall’s stunning new Yamaha grand piano. The recital will include music by Scarlatti, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, Granados, and Copland.

Sunday, February 8, 2026 | 2:00 p.m.

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Winnipeg Baroque Brass Choir

The Winnipeg Baroque Brass Choir includes ten of Winnipeg’s top brass players. Co-directed by Andrew Balfour and Richard Gillis, this program will feature the glorious antiphonal music of Venetian master Giovanni Gabrieli, brass transcriptions of consort music by Elizabethan composers William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons Consort music, and arrangements for brass choir of the music of Johann Sebastien Bach.
This concert celebrates a rich brass tradition, from the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble to the Canadian Brass and beyond, and will also showcases the rich level of wind and brass playing in Winnipeg.

Sunday, March 29, 2026 | 2:00 p.m.