Up to 150 students at four different Winnipeg schools have benefitted from one of the city’s largest musical education programs each year. Now, Sistema Winnipeg’s 15-year legacy of bringing music to at-risk youth is being celebrated with the program’s annual Michael Nozick Spring Concert in the West End. 

“Each year is another year as always bringing as much music, joy, companionship, and a safe place and good food to students,” says musical director Monica Chen, the RBC Assistant Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. 

A celebration of growth 

Founded in 2011 by the WSO in partnership with the Winnipeg School Division and the Seven Oaks School Division, Sistema’s mission to create social change through music has been a wide success. A study conducted by the University of Manitoba found that participants become more confident and make gains in the classroom as well as in the orchestra. 

“At the end of the day, the goals are the skills that they’re building,” says Chen. “The music is just a canvas on which for them to practice these skills.”


 

The growth is not only found in the students. Chen notes that she sees growth in herself when she works with the students in their schools.

“I actually always find it a breath of fresh air whenever I go to Sistema,” she says, “because with music at the higher levels with the university and at the WSO, everyone’s always dialled into the highest level of excellence and they’re always pushing themselves so far. And then, at the opposite end of the spectrum is Sistema, where they’re just starting to discover the joy of being able to play their first piece… and these little budding joys really ground myself as well to see this is where everyone started.”

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Cross-community collaborations 

All four schools that Sistema Winnipeg operates in – Elwick Community School, King Edward Community School, Isaac Newton School and St. John’s High School – will be joining forces in the annual year-end concert. Three different orchestras, choirs, woodwind and brass groups and a fully-combined piece will make up the concert. 

Chen says that the experience is another skill-building opportunity for the participants. “It’s a great experience to build some team bonding,” she says. “I think there’s a lot of bonding and trust that builds through music as well.” 

Sistema Winnipeg’s Michael Nozick Spring Concert takes place on June 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Tec-Voc High School. Admission is free. More details are available at the WSO’s website.