{"id":619328,"date":"2026-04-21T18:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/619328\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:12:15","slug":"winnipeg-wind-ensemble-closes-season-in-dreams-and-fantasies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/619328\/","title":{"rendered":"Winnipeg Wind Ensemble closes season in ‘Dreams and Fantasies’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble<\/a> will bring its 2025\u201326 season to a close with Dreams and Fantasi<\/a>es<\/a>, a program designed to explore creativity, ambition, and the journey from inspiration to realization. The concert, taking place Sunday, April 26th at the Lutheran Church of the Cross<\/a>, blends music rooted in dreamlike imagery with works shaped by perseverance and vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Artistic director Ginny Helmer explains that the foundation of the concert came from pairing Peter Graham<\/a>\u2019s Harrison\u2019s Dream with a new work by Winnipeg composer Chris Byman<\/a>. \u201cHe had done this piece for woodwind quintet, Sky Harbor, which is sort of based on a Dungeons and Dragons game,” Helmer explains, “so those two things put together\u2026 gave me the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, the broader theme began to take shape, incorporating both literal and metaphorical interpretations of dreams. \u201cI thought, ‘Well, you know, why not a Bach fantasy?’ And then, of course, I had to think of Symphony Fantastique. It all just kind of came together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story and challenge of Harrison\u2019s Dream<\/p>\n

At the heart of the program is Harrison\u2019s Dream, a dramatic and technically demanding work inspired by a real historical problem. Helmer recounts the story behind the piece, rooted in maritime disasters of the early 18th century. \u201cAlthough they were pretty good at calculating latitude, they really weren’t very good at calculating longitude, so they always thought they were someplace they weren’t, and then they would run aground on the rocks,” Helmer says.<\/p>\n

The solution came from an unlikely figure. \u201cThis man came forward. He was a carpenter and an amateur clock maker. And his idea was that if he could make a clock that was accurate enough to calculate the time on land as well as on ship, that they would be able to use that information to solve the issue. And he did actually win the prize.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musically, the piece mirrors both the mechanical precision of timekeeping and the emotional weight of life at sea – a challenge mirrored by the score that the ensemble will perform. \u201cIt’s like, eating an elephant,” says Helmer. “We’ve just been taking it one chunk at a time.\u201d She adds that the work reveals more with each rehearsal, including excerpts from hymns and sea spells from when sailors would lose their lives on the ocean. \u201cThe more I look at it, the more I study it, the more I see,\u201d Helmer says.<\/p>\n

Showcasing young talent and musical virtuosity<\/p>\n

Another highlight of the concert is the Concertino for Flute by C\u00e9cile Chaminade, featuring soloist Angelia Meng, a student at Linden Christian School. Helmer speaks highly of the young musician\u2019s abilities and reputation. \u201cShe\u2019s been sort of a force to be reckoned with in the flute world for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

The piece itself presents significant challenges. \u201cThere are lots of things where you have to play 6 notes in one beat or 7 notes in one beat,” says Helmer, adding that the soloist also has to add their own musicality to the piece while being in balance with the wind ensemble.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This challenge is made even more extreme by the addition of the\u00a0Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute Band<\/a>\u00a0to the ensemble. For Helmer, this partnership reflects both musical and educational values. \u201cIt will just be really interesting to put those two groups together and to get our musicians to kind of interact with the younger students and maybe give them the benefit of their experience.\u201d\u00a0The joint performance will also feature Shenandoah, arranged by Frank Ticheli, a piece that aligns naturally with the concert\u2019s themes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The event also marks a moment of transition, as MBCI band director Andrew Klassen prepares to retire. Helmer reflects on his impact and longstanding connection to the ensemble: \u201cAndrew\u2026 conducted the wind ensemble for four years in 1994 to 1998,” Helmer shares, adding that Klassen has remained involved with the group as a concert emcee. “He’s just a fantastic musician and he plays many instruments well,”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fantastical narratives and musical storytelling<\/p>\n

The concert\u2019s theme of dreams takes on a more literal and dramatic dimension in selections from Hector Berlioz\u2019s Symphonie fantastique. “The whole Symphonie fantastique is about an\u2026 opium dream where the artist is fixated, literally, on Harriet Smithson, an actress,” Helmer shares of its history. A quite different colour is required for the Fantasia and Fugue in C minor of J.S. Bach where Baroque phrasing and intricate layering replace dreamlike textures.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the program is Chris Byman\u2019s Sky Harbor, an imaginative, narrative-driven work that follows a fantastical storyline involving an airship. “It looks like a sailing ship, but through magical means, it lifts off the ground and becomes a sailing airship,\u201d Helmer says. \u201cThe last movement, they take off and into the sunset, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dreams and Fantasies<\/a>\u00a0takes place on Sunday, April 26th at 3:00 p.m. at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, 560 Arlington Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble will bring its 2025\u201326 season to a close with Dreams and Fantasies, a program…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":{"0":"post-619328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-winnipeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619328","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=619328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}