Desautels Concert Series announces its 2026–27 season

The Desautels Faculty of Music (DFoM) at the University of Manitoba is pleased to announce the lineup for its upcoming 2026–27 Desautels Concert Series—a vibrant six-concert season supported by the state-of-the-art acoustics of the Desautels Concert Hall. Featuring acclaimed faculty performers, guest artists and award-winning alumni, the series bridges classical traditions, jazz, contemporary chamber works, and Indigenous artistic expression. 

The series launches on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, with Balanchine and Gershwin, a dynamic collaboration uniting dancers from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet with a faculty jazz quartet featuring pianist Will Bonness, vocalist Karly Epp, bassist Karl Kohut, and drummer Fabio Ragnelli. Together, they will present George Balanchine's Who Cares?, choreographed to classic tunes by George Gershwin. The autumn schedule continues October 25 with Far and Familiar, a performance by duo Viðarneistí (marimbist Victoria Sparks and clarinetist Catherine Wood) that explores folk traditions, memory, and myth through commissioned and custom-arranged works. On November 29, cellist Minna Rose Chung welcomes back DFoM alumni Gregory Lewis on violin and Paul Williamson on piano for A Reunion with Beethoven, a program anchored by Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 70 No. 2.

The second half of the season kicks off on January 24, 2027, with a performance of A Prairie Boy’s Life, written by composer and alum John Greer and commissioned by Dean Emeritus Edmund Dawe. Greer will perform alongside a voice and piano ensemble including Tracy Dahl, Monica Huisman, Lizzy Hoyt, Jamie MacLennan, Mel Braun, and Laura Loewen. Keyboard enthusiasts can look forward to February 7, when the full piano faculty—David Moroz, Judy Kehler Siebert, Laura Loewen, Stephen Runge, Will Bonness, and Darryl Friesen—gathers for Tutti Pianisti, a multi-piano event featuring compositions for up to four pianos, including works by Bach, Rossini, Ravel, and Gershwin. The season concludes on March 14 with Anishinaabe violist and composer Melody McKiver celebrating the release of their new album alongside Polaris Music Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher, pianist Beverley McKiver, and Métis drummer Daniel Roy in a concert blending classical viola, post-rock effects, and Anishinaabe traditions.