MCA Celebrates 50 years and Honorary Members at Government House
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
In honour of our 50th anniversary, MCA was invited by Her Honour Anita R. Neville, P.C., O.M. to Government House to mark the occasion. Awards and scholarship recipients, board and committee members, past board presidents and staff, MCA guest conductors and honorary members were invited to attend this special event. Guests each individually greeted her honour and gathered in the ballroom to mingle with light refreshments.
Her Honour offered a speech of congratulations and Executive Director Karla Ferguson reflected on the past, present and future of MCA. Along with MCA Board President Katy Harmer, the Lieutenant Governor presented three new honorary memberships to Ed Hildebrand, Millie Hildebrand, and Dr. Catherine Robbins.
The attendees gathered joined their voices together in song as Katy led Monica Aslund's "Kom!", and Healey Willan's "Rise Up My Love", and board director Vic Pankratz led us in singing "Love is Love is Love is Love" by Abbie Betinis. After we sang together, there was time for fellowship and a shared meal.
This was a wonderful kickoff to our 50th anniversary year. We thank everyone for attending, Her Honour for hosting, and we look forward to more celebrations throughout the year!
Excerpt from Karla's Speech:
Fifty is a unique milestone where we can look both backwards and forwards with some clarity. It’s long enough to have established a solid foundation and have confidence in your legacy; long enough to clearly see the journey that led us here, and with all the successes and the lessons learned also see a path forward; and long enough to see the future taking shape before us, with new generations already in action. Today the past, present and future of MCA is here together in one room – so I would invite you to take a look around and congratulate each other on the success that you have all collectively built and continue to build.
We all know the power of group singing, and I love that in this job, ‘preaching to the choir’ is a very literal term. So instead, I want to talk about the power of the people who have made the Manitoba Choral Association what it is today. I’ve spent some time recently reading about our Honorary Members, and together they paint a pretty compelling picture of the early days of MCA. They also create a bit of a blueprint or a recipe for what it takes to successfully create – and sustain – a community like ours and make it thrive. Here are a few of my observations:
You need visionaries – people who can see an unmet need and a path forward You need builders – folks who are willing to roll up their sleeves to get the job done You need systems people, who keep things organized and on track You need leaders who are willing to take the reins for a time and steer the ship You need storytellers, to spread the word about what makes us special You need ambassadors – folks showcasing our amazing work locally and beyond
Reading about Henry, Winnifred & Garry; Bert, John & Helen; Marilyn & Derek; Audrey & Pat; Ron & Bruce; Liz, Vic & Judy, I could see them each filling one (or sometimes two or three) of these roles. I think we can all agree that these are some pretty incredible people, but the thing they have in common with everyone here is that they believe in MCA’s vision of ‘A voice for every choir and a choir for every voice.’
As we look ahead to our next fifty years, I would encourage each of you to ask yourself: where do you fit in this blueprint? Are you a visionary, a builder, a storyteller, or perhaps are you someone just beginning to discover your voice? Wherever you find yourself, you are part of what comes next.
The Manitoba Choral Association has always been powered by people who show up, who care deeply, and who believe in the simple, transformative act of singing together. So in the year to come, let us celebrate what we have built, and with that same spirit of generosity and possibility, let us continue to welcome new voices, nurture new leaders, and champion the joy of choral singing across this province.
Together, we can honour this legacy — and make the future sing.
Lieutenant Governor Anita R. Neville, P.C., O.M. pictured with MCA Honorary Members, past Board Presidents, and MCA's current Board of Directors.
Citations for our newest Honorary Members
Our first recipient is Ed Hildebrand. Ed spent the bulk of his career building an incredible music program at Steinbach Regional Secondary School, teaching both choirs and bands. But he made an equally big impact by sharing his gifts across the province and beyond. Ed conducted the Westman Youth Choir, the Central Man Youth Choir, and the Eastman Youth Choir multiple times, as well as at our own Manitoba Sings. In the community, he has led choirs at the Winnipeg German Society, First Mennonite Church, Bethel Mennonite Church, U of M Concert Choir and Good Neighbours Choristers, to name a few. He has adjudicated at festivals and led choirs at camps across Canada and into the US, and mentored new music teachers as a faculty advisor for the U of M. Ed, thank you for sharing your talents with our wider community.
Our next recipient is Millie Hildebrand. Millie is well-known in our community as a teacher, choral director, singer, voice instructor and festival adjudicator who has devoted countless years of service to the Manitoba choral community, most notably in Eastman and Winnipeg. Millie has given her time generously to committee work for choirs and various boards, including on the MCA Board, where she took on the roles of Co-President and Past President and led marketing, fundraising, and outreach activities, among other initiatives. She still actively volunteers for MCA, enthusiastically supporting choirs at ChoralFest and other events. Millie's support and encouragement has no doubt been instrumental in the lives of many budding choral conductors in developing their craft early in their careers. Thank you Millie, for your nurturing leadership.
Our final recipient today is Dr. Catherine Robbins. As Associate Professor of Choral Studies and Music Education at the U of M Faculty of Music, Catherine is a dynamic music educator known for her work in vocal techniques and choral pedagogy for developing voices. Her contributions to the work of MCA are many and varied: as President, leading the board through a period of development and restructuring; chairing our IDEA special interest group; developing and sharing important Indigenous collaborations – and on a personal note, I learned in a short time that Catherine will most always say yes when asked to share her knowledge with our community. Thank you Catherine, for your vision and your generous teaching.
This event is only the beginning of our 50th anniversary celebrations this year. Save the date for the MCA's 50th Birthday Party on June 6 at Canadian Mennonite University. Sign up for our bi-weekly email newsletter to hear about upcoming events.
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