{"id":562365,"date":"2026-03-26T16:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/562365\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:02:14","slug":"joanna-loepp-thiessen-wins-2026-rose-bowl-at-winnipeg-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/562365\/","title":{"rendered":"Joanna\u00a0Loepp Thiessen Wins 2026 Rose Bowl at Winnipeg Music Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past weekend, the 108th edition of the Winnipeg Music Festival<\/a> drew to a close, wrapping up three remarkable weeks of music making across the city.\u00a0Hundreds of performers took to the stage, gaining invaluable performance experience while receiving expert feedback from some of the finest adjudicators in their respective disciplines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Among the festival\u2019s most coveted prizes is the Rose Bowl<\/a>, awarded annually to a Level A singer who delivers the most outstanding overall vocal performance. Its legacy is formidable. Past recipients include luminaries such as Tracy Dahl,\u00a0Valdine Anderson, Philip Enns, Aaron Hutton, Diane Berger, and Jessica\u00a0Strong,\u00a0artists\u00a0who have gone on to shape Canada\u2019s vocal landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simply put, the Rose Bowl has long served as a launching pad for some of the country\u2019s most successful vocal careers. In 2026, that distinction belongs to\u00a0Joanna\u00a0Loepp Thiessen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA Slow Burn\u201d: Processing a Major Win\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the\u00a0magnitude\u00a0of her achievement,\u00a0Loepp Thiessen\u00a0describes her reaction with characteristic humility and introspection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u00a0you\u00a0know what?\u00a0I’m\u00a0a little bit of an internal processor of my successes.\u00a0So\u00a0it’s\u00a0kind of a\u00a0slow burn.\u00a0I’m\u00a0feeling still\u00a0lots of moments of, wow, I\u00a0can’t\u00a0believe that happened.\u00a0I’m\u00a0super grateful. And I was quite shocked and very thrilled, of course, to be the recipient of such an honor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently completing her master\u2019s degree at the University of Manitoba,\u00a0Loepp Thiessen\u00a0studies under both Monica Huisman and Tracy Dahl, a pairing she describes as \u201ckind of the best of both worlds.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With only weeks\u00a0remaining\u00a0before her graduate recital, the Rose Bowl win arrives at a pivotal moment\u2014offering both affirmation and momentum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, it does give me a sense of validation,\u201d she explains. \u201cAs someone else put it, it’s kind of a guidepost, even though I would have continued to perform, whether I won a competition or not, it’s a really lovely way to feel like, hey, I’m doing the thing that I love to do and other people think so too, that I should be doing that.\u00a0So\u00a0it’s\u00a0lovely in that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finding Her Voice: From Soprano to Contralto\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loepp Thiessen\u2019s\u00a0path to this moment has not been entirely straightforward. Like many singers, her vocal identity has evolved over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, great question. I was a soprano my whole life,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s a bit complicated with the Fach system<\/a> because there’s so many environmental factors that affect what rep you’re choosing at a given time, health factors, all these different things that sometimes keep our true voice maybe revealed for longer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her transition to\u00a0contralto\u00a0came during her graduate studies, following a period of exploration and reassessment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my case, I had taken a hiatus from school after my\u00a0undergrad, started at U of M, doing a prep year effectively for my master’s\u2026 And they asked me to do a prep year because my voice was a little ambiguous as to what I was.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The turning point came in a lesson with Monica Huisman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd\u00a0so\u00a0after a sabbatical, one of my teachers, Monica, came back, had her first lesson with\u00a0me\u00a0and thought, hmm,\u00a0I’m\u00a0hearing not soprano. And\u00a0so\u00a0we\u00a0kind of looked\u00a0at that, took some of my rep, a few keys down, and then, ta-da, here we are, contralto.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The result is a voice now fully aligned with repertoire that\u00a0showcases\u00a0its depth,\u00a0colour, and dramatic potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Winning Program: From Contemporary Canada to Early Mozart\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loepp Thiessen\u2019s\u00a0Rose Bowl-winning performance\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0both versatility and artistic insight, pairing a contemporary Canadian work with early Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of her selections came from a rarely performed opera by Winnipeg composer Neil Weisensel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, this is a very unheard aria from\u00a0an opera written in 1993, I believe, called\u00a0The Bachelor Farmers of the Apocalypse, written by Neil\u00a0Weisenthal\u00a0with the libretto written by the late Michael Cavanagh<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She describes the work as dramatically rich and musically demanding:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMusically, Neil has such a gift of creating these beautiful angular shapes in his music. I would say\u00a0it’s… It leans towards\u2026 more angular, atonal, I would describe it as\u2026 I love that it goes quite from extreme to extreme. It has a\u00a0two octave\u00a0range within the aria.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In contrast, her Mozart selection\u2014drawn from\u00a0Mitridate, re di Ponto<\/a>, composed when Mozart was still a teenager, offered a different kind of energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy character Farnace was written for a castrato\u2026 this rep is like quite alto friendly for me because it jumps around a lot.\u00a0It’s quite very different than Neil’s music in that it’s quite simple harmonically in kind of a catchy way.\u00a0I would say that\u00a0it\u00a0kind\u00a0of,\u00a0it bops along and it never stops and\u00a0it’s\u00a0a lot of fun to sing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pairing highlighted not only her technical range but also her ability to navigate contrasting musical styles with confidence and clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another Triumph: The Doris Lewis Memorial Trophy\u00a0<\/p>\n

As if the Rose Bowl were not enough,\u00a0Loepp Thiessen\u00a0also claimed the Doris Lewis Memorial Trophy<\/a>, awarded for the best performance of an oratorio or Bach\u00a0aria\u00a0during the festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her winning piece: \u201cErbarme\u00a0dich\u201d from St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. This award is given for the best performance throughout the week of either an oratorio aria or a Bach aria\u2026 I performed my very favorite Bach piece called Er\u00a0Barmendich\u00a0from St. Matthew.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She points to both the technical and emotional demands of the work:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s\u00a0a piece that is\u00a0very challenging\u00a0because of how instrumental Bach writes, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0also extremely long phrases\u2026 And I also really connect with it on a personal level. I find the music so beautiful and so spiritual.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her connection to the piece, combined with prior experience performing it with a Baroque orchestra, proved decisive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the Adjudicator\u00a0also\u00a0really connected with my performance. And\u00a0yeah, I was grateful to receive that award.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead: A Career Taking Shape\u00a0<\/p>\n

With her studies nearing completion,\u00a0Loepp Thiessen\u00a0stands at the threshold of a professional career, energized by recent successes and focused on what lies ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I am really excited about the future.\u00a0It’s\u00a0really\u00a0validating\u00a0that these sorts of awards really give people energy around your career and support you in the risk that is a performance career.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u00a0anticipates\u00a0a shift from academic preparation to professional auditions, alongside continued\u00a0teaching\u00a0and performance opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am\u2026 looking at\u00a0a very large\u00a0amount of time that is open because\u00a0I’ve\u00a0been in school for a\u00a0really long\u00a0time.\u00a0So\u00a0I’m\u00a0excited to continue auditioning\u2026 I enjoy teaching as well and helping the next group of young singers prepare for things like festival and university auditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While specific engagements\u00a0remain\u00a0under wraps, her summer promises to be active.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this summer I have several concert and opera performances coming up that I’m not able to share about just yet but I’m\u2026 really looking forward to delving into that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As she continues to refine her artistry and define her place within the classical music world, one thing is clear:\u00a0Joanna\u00a0Loepp Thiessen\u2019s Rose Bowl win is not simply a culmination\u2014it is a beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This past weekend, the 108th edition of the Winnipeg Music Festival drew to a close, wrapping up three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-562365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}