Great music was in the air on Oct. 15 and 16 in Winnipeg and Winkler, Man., for the inaugural Canadian Foodgrains Bank Musical Growing Project.
More than 700 people attended the two concerts, which raised about $20,000 for the Foodgrains Bank.
Featured artists were the Canzona ensemble under the direction of Henry Engbrecht, the Central Manitoba Youth Choir under the direction of Liane Ouimet, and mezzo soprano Catherine Daniel.
For Harold Penner, Foodgrains Bank Manitoba regional coordinator, the concerts were a way for musicians to use their gifts to help raise funds for people in the developing world who don’t have enough to eat. “Many people think of farmers when they think of the Foodgrains Bank,” he says. “It’s wonderful to see others, such as musicians, coming up with ideas and energy to support the cause of ending hunger.”
Penner hopes that the concerts will be an annual event—just like the crops that farmers plant every year for the Foodgrains Bank. “Farmers don’t take a break from farming, and hunger isn’t going away,” he says. “We hope the musical growing project can be a regular way for musicians and people who love good music to help people who don’t have enough to eat.”
In addition to the music, the concerts included stories about people in the developing world who have been assisted by the Foodgrains Bank.
The Central Manitoba Youth Choir under the direction of Liane Ouimet performs at the Oct. 15 Musical Growing Project at Westminster United Church, Winnipeg, Man.
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