World’s coldest orchestra

World’s coldest orchestra

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norman lebrecht

January 29, 2019

It’s minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit in Winnipeg, Canada, today.

The Winnipeg Symphony is about to start a new music festival.

And the public keeps on coming.

‘This is what makes prairie people remarkably resilient,’ says its manager, Trudy Schroeder.

 

Comments

  • steven holloway says:

    As of 3:05 a.m. this day, the temperature is -31c. That’s -23.8F.

    • Pacer1 says:

      Wind chill there is currently -50C. That’s -58 in Fahrenheit

    • Petros Linardos says:

      Right. Even if we went by “real feel” according to accuweather, the temperature reaches the -40s F. And we are in the middle of the year’s coldest days. Still, Lebrechtian hyperbole aside, Winnipeg is Canada’s coldest major city.

      • V.Lind says:

        Yeah, by a narrow margin, I write from another one!

        But even the Queen knows about Portage and Main, in Winnipeg. Said to be the coldest corner in Canada, possibly in the world. Once, when she was visiting Canada, she and the lousy driver were strolling the grounds of Government House in Ottawa (another chilly place, whose temperatures are often compared — unfavourably — with those of another cold capital, Ulan Bator) with the Governor General and his wife. They were on camera with permitted mikes for the chat, and they were discussing the coldness of Canada when HM piped up that Ottawa was not as cold as Portage and Main. That’s very good staff work.

        That acknowledged, the WSO is actually a pretty hot orchestra, and the arts in Winnipeg enjoy amazing community support. This festival apparently includes the building of an ice amphitheatre where someone who plays ice instruments will perform. Hope NL follows up on this story!

        • Petros LInardos says:

          Ice amphitheater and ice instruments? That sounds awesome! I am not joking. Do you have any link?

          Coldest places: Winnipeg’s cold may be worldclass as major cities go, but I wouldn’t call it coldest corner in the world. Some remote small towns like Omyakon in Siberia are colder.

  • Jean says:

    Don’t forget the Lapland Chamber Orchestra from Santa’s hometown…

  • Mark Henriksen says:

    I had the opportunity to hear the WSO play back in the 90’s in Winnipeg. The orchestra is really excellent!

  • Harold Clarkson says:

    Portage and Main in Winnipeg is considered one of the very coldest spots in Canada. the wind comes across thousands of miles of prairie and ends there… In the 1970s I once was hired to play as an extra, in february, and it was impossible to walk 400 meters with my cello from the hotel to the hall… had to take a taxi after going outside for 3 minutes and nearly being blown into the deep freeze. But audience all come despite the cold, then and now…

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