Announcing MCO's 2026/27 season! ✨️
Voice. Place. Connection. In its 2026/27 season, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra is both steward and instigator — honouring tradition and actively reshaping how chamber orchestra is heard and experienced. Across eight concerts, the season centres unexpected connections: music inspired by paintings, water systems, sacred texts, literary adventures, lived cultural memory, and the elemental force of movement.
We invite you to join us for our 2026/27 season and experience the intimacy and connection of live music. Subscription packages of 8 or 6 tickets are now on sale at early bird prices – 20-25% off our regular price – for a limited time!
Discover the season and subscribe at themco.ca/concerts/mco-2026-27 or through the link in our bio!
Join the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra for an intimate spring gathering at 1pm on June 13, where music, food, and conversation bloom in a beautiful garden setting 🎻🌸
Guests will enjoy a curated selection of refined seasonal bites, signature cocktails, and wines, alongside a program of music from MCO musicians inspired by the energy of spring. Plus, set your table for summer with a wine tasting hosted by @wpgwinehouse 🥂
Spring Serenade is a fundraising event that invites you to connect and listen in an atmosphere of conviviality and warmth, where the music and flavours of the season meet.
Learn more and buy tickets at showpass.com/mco-spring-serenade/ or through the link in our bio!
We are shocked and so deeply sad at the tragic death of Cris Derksen. May you go well. Our thoughts are with her wife, her family and friends, and her expansive music community.
The Cree-Mennonite cellist and composer was a fearless musician, brilliant composer, and joyful collaborator. She was a beacon, a connector, and an innovator. And she was just getting started.
We had the honour of commissioning Cris to write for the orchestra and performing her music together. A year ago we were performing AWASOWIN at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. An orchestral concert set in the round - inspired by Cris and her musical invocation to gather and share community.
We’re grateful for the experiences we shared and the beautiful music she leaves us. Along with so many in the music community, we will miss her enormously.
Do you have your 2026/27 MCO subscription yet? Early bird pricing - our biggest savings of the year - is in effect for a limited time! ⏳️
With appearances from Canadian music leaders including major national artists (@stephanecello , @kersonleong ) and new voices (@lagranderose , @cameron.shahbazi ) to Indigenous creators (@indigenousflutist ) and longstanding MCO collaborators (@andrianachuchman , @simonedinnerstein ), plus partnerships with @jazzwinnipeg and @wpgbaroquefest , the season reflects the richness and plurality of artistry shaping our country today.
We invite you to join us for our 2026/27 season and experience the intimacy and connection of live music 💫
Discover the season and subscribe now at themco.ca/concerts/mco-2026-27 or through the link in our bio!
MCO will be at this year's Doors Open Winnipeg! Join us on Saturday, May 30 at the beautiful Millennium Centre for one of three free lunchtime performances 🎻
Experience the “musical gem of Winnipeg” in a historic gem from Winnipeg’s rich heritage. The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra performs in the spectacular acoustic of Winnipeg’s Millennium Centre. Presented in partnership with @heritagewpg .
Performances start at 11am, 12pm, and 1pm and are each approximately 30 minutes in length. No registration required!
Learn more and plan your Doors Open Winnipeg experience at doorsopenwinnipeg.ca/building/mb-chamber-orchestra
#doorsopenwinnipeg #heritagewinnipeg
Doesn’t get any better than this. Last night, @jamesehnes and @andrewarmstrongpianist closed out the @mcocanada season with a stunning recital at Knox United Church.
#jamesehnes #andrewarmstrong #manitobachamberorchestra #knoxunitedchurch #violin
🌅 MORNING LIGHT - MAY 8, 2026 🌅
☀️🎶 @jamesehnes is bringing his 50th birthday celebration tour through Manitoba this week with stops in his home city of Brandon and in Winnipeg. The 12-time Juno Award winner joined us to talk about the celebrations, what he hopes to share in the next chapter of his life, and the added responsibility he feels when performing for the hometown crowd.
☀️🎶 The @wpgjazzo will close out its award-winning season with a tribute to one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Guitarist @larryroymusic told us more about “Reelin’ In More Years” at @ccfmanitobain this weekend and how Steely Dan shaped his own artistry.
☀️🎶 The @incantatemsingers will “Journey to the Center of the Nerdiverse” this weekend with. Pair of concerts in North Kildonan. Conductor Sara Jane Schmidt told us more about the musical fan fiction the group will share from movies, TV and video games, and how the concert is geared towards people all across the nerd spectrum.
🔗 You can learn about all of these stories and more on our website and app!
📻 STREAMING LINK: /ckcl/console/
SHOW SPONSOR: @bodymeasure.ca
There’s a moment just before the music begins—when a room full of people settles into a shared anticipation. Then the first note sounds, and something changes. We’re no longer separate—we’re listening, feeling, experiencing together. That’s the power of live music ✨
At the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, that connection is at the heart of everything we do.
These moments don’t happen by accident. They’re made possible by people like you, who believe in the impact of live music 🫶
This spring, be a part of what comes next. Your gift helps the MCO keep creating those magical moments in the concert hall, in schools, in libraries, and beyond. Donate today: themco.ca/donate.
Photo credit: @buioassis
Today is Red Dress Day, also known as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+).
This day is about awareness, reflection, and standing with the families and communities who continue to seek answers, justice, and healing.
At our concert Songs of River & Fire last week, the MCO was joined by guest vocalists Melody Courage and Marion Newman for a contemplative and powerful program exploring themes of Indigenous appropriation, repatriation, grief, and joy. New video art created for this concert by multidisciplinary artist @caseykoyczanart accompanied the performance.
Today, we honour and bring awareness to the thousands of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit individuals who have been disproportionately affected by violence in Canada. We commit to continued listening, learning, and reflection.
📸 Photos by @buioassis of @bnbstudioswpg
Alongside the vocal works we're performing with Melody Courage and Marion Newman on Thursday, April 30 as part of Songs of River & Fire, MCO is also playing Perfect Offering by composer Cassandra Miller.
Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Perfect Offering is created from recordings of real bells, slowed and transcribed, creating textures that feel suspended, shimmering, and evocatively vocal. Critic Alex Ross of The New Yorker says no one is “writing music more brazenly beautiful than Cassandra Miller" 🔔
Our performance of this work will be accompanied by new video art from Dene multidisciplinary artist Casey Koyczan.
To create with unrestricted freedom. To make the unrealistic a reality. To imagine environments unbound by the laws of physics. To imagine our people and stories within future generations. Artist Casey Koyczan is from Yellowknife, NT, and uses various mediums to communicate how culture and technology can grow together in order for us to develop a better understanding of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going
Learn more & get tickets for Songs of River & Fire at themco.ca/concerts/7-songs-river-fire or through the link in our bio.
🎵 Join the MCO team! Do you have an enthusiasm for music, community engagement, and digital communication, plus an interest in gaining hands-on experience in a creative, community-focused arts organization?
✨️ With the support of the Canada Summer Jobs Program, the MCO is hiring a full-time Community Engagement Coordinator for an 8-week summer position.
👉 Learn more and apply (deadline May 10), or share this job posting with someone you know, at themco.ca/news/job-posting-community-engagement-coordinator-summer-position or through the link in our bio
#jobposting #Winnipeg #canadasummerjobs #winnipegjobs
It’s National Volunteer Week, and we’re taking a moment to recognize the incredible people who make so much of what we do possible. Volunteers truly are the sparks that bring our community to life.
To our dedicated, generous MCO volunteers: thank you. Your time, care, and commitment in bringing music alive in our community is felt in ways that go far beyond the concert hall. From welcoming audiences to supporting our events behind the scenes, your contributions make a lasting impact.
We’re so grateful to have you as part of the MCO family 💙
#nvw2026 @volunteermanitoba@volunteercanada
