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Cheryl Waldner, WSO Communications Coordinator
949-3970
communications@wso.mb.ca

Please enter through backstage entrance of the Centennial Concert Hall.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is integral to Winnipeg's rich cultural life, delighting more than 100,000 audience members each year with innovative programming and musical excellence. The WSO presents educational programs for more than 25,000 students annually and tours outside the city reaching out to communities across Manitoba.

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Brings
Award-Winning Show To The Stage

Winnipeg, MB – March 4, 2010 –Platypus Theatre and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) will team up on Sunday to present Platypus’ award-winning production How the Gimquat Found Her Song on Sunday, March 7 at 2 pm. The theatrical symphony concert, written in playful verse, combines theatre and music to tell the tale of an awkward bird in search of a song.

“It’s a combination of entertainment and education,” says Platypus artistic director Peter Duschenes, who also wrote the show and plays the role of the wizard. “The program traces the evolution of classical music from Gregorian chant to the present day but it’s presented as a story about a sympathetic character’s search for identity. The audience is engaged by the characters and the story but they also hear and learn about some of the world’s greatest music.”

Platypus Theatre has performed “Gimquat” with more than 60 orchestras around the globe, most recently with the Western Australia Symphony in Perth. “Although the show is very Canadian – as the audience will discover at the concert – it seems to have universal appeal,” says Duschenes. “We’ve wondered how it would play to different audiences but across North America and as far away as Singapore and Australia it seems to resonate with people.”

In 2006, in partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and TV Ontario, Platypus made a television adaptation of “Gimquat” which has gone on to win awards at the Accolade Television Awards in 2007 and the prestigious Banff World Television Festival in 2008. In the film version, the story is told using a unique combination of live action intertwined seamlessly with multiple animation techniques. DVDs of the program will be on sale at the concert.

This is not the first time Platypus Theatre has performed in Winnipeg. The company has collaborated with the WSO on eight other occasions dating back to their first Canadian tour in 1992.

Pre-concert activities began at 1 pm with crafts, rhythm ensembles, a conducting station, and more, in partnership with the Music For Young Children (MYC) program! The WSO will also be celebrating MYC’s 30th birthday!

The WSO performs the Great West Life Sundays with the Family concert, How the Gimquat Found Her Song, on Sunday, March 7 at 2 pm at the Centennial Concert Hall. Tickets range from $11.25 to $26.50 and are available through the WSO box office at 949-3999, online at www.wso.ca or through Ticketmaster 780-3333 or ticketmaster.ca.

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