Sibling soloists make Winnipeg debut in milestone MCO season kick-off

The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra opens their 50th anniversary season by welcoming a pair of spectacular sibling soloists.

Sisters Yolanda and Carmen Bruno have each established themselves as individual, dynamic and versatile players on the violin and cello, respectively. Though it is together that they make their Winnipeg debuts, sharing the Westminster stage with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

“What an honour to be (in Winnipeg),” says elder sibling Yolanda Bruno. "It's both of our first times here and it's beautiful at the beginning of fall.”

The opening concert in the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra’s golden anniversary season – a milestone described as “remarkable” by the violinist – is as much an opportunity to perform in Winnipeg as it is for the siblings to reconnect musically.

“It’s actually the first time we’ve performed together since we both moved for our jobs,” says cellist Carmen Bruno. Each sister having earned a symphonic roster spot in 2019, Carmen joined the Quebec Symphony Orchestra the same year Yolanda won a position with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

The distance, commitments and, of course, pandemic kept them apart for the last few years making this performance in Winnipeg all the more special.

Bruno sisters perform music of the past and present with Manitoba Chamber Orchestra

Performing music of Antonio Vivaldi (the “rock composer of the Baroque era,” according to Yolanda) and contemporary Canadian Charles Cozens, the program also features works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Grant and Igor Stravinsky, played by the MCO.

Two opportunities for Winnipeg audiences to see Yolanda and Carmen Bruno perform with the MCO: a one-hour matinee at 1 p.m. and full concert program beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 28.

Both concerts at Westminster United Church.