Congratulations to our 2024 David G.H. Waters Hymn Sing Memorial Award Recipients!

MCA is pleased to announce that Kyle Briscoe and Evan Glazier are the recipients of the

2024 David G.H. Waters Hymn Sing Memorial Award.

The award pays tribute to David Waters, producer and director of the long-time-running CBC show Hymn Sing. The CBC Hymn Sing Chorus was a professional choir which provided singing experience and financial means for over 400 different choristers in its 30 years, many young singers in Manitoba.

The intent of this award is to recognize the significant role that participation in school, community and church choirs play in the development of a singer’s love of music and the decision to further their studies in music with the goal of a professional career.

This year, two deserving recipients were chosen to receive the award.

Kyle Briscoe (he/they) is a queer interdisciplinary artist who uses opera performance and his love for pop music to reveal our shared humanity. Kyle maintains a practice as a freelance arts administrator and is a motivated self-producer. Kyle is a graduate of the Desautels Faculty of Music and is currently pursuing an M.Mus at McGill University, studying under John Mac Master.

Passionate about creating social change through teaching empathy, Kyle is committed to researching trauma-informed performance practice and he challenges others to open their hearts to learn from lived experiences diverse to their own. Kyle is a survivor of trauma and domestic violence that resulted in chronic PTSD. Kyle aims to heal, inspire and support victims of trauma, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and the communities supporting these individuals, encouraging them to be loud, proud and fabulously themselves.

Recent highlights include: REQUIESTCAT; REBIRTH, Kyle’s debut solo recital presented during Pride Week 2024 in Winnipeg, which raised money for 2SLGBTQIA+ charities; singing the role of Oscar in Manitoba Underground Opera's production of Rocking Horse Winner; joining Dr. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor and the Schulich Singers in performing Adolphus Hailstork’s “I Will Lift Mine Eyes” as the tenor soloist; “Secret Chord,” a Leonard Cohen tribute concert most recently performed in Kingston, Ontario; and making his Messiah soloist debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in December 2023.

Kyle released his first single, "What A Time" in November 2022, and his debut EP "LESSONS" in July 2023. His most recent single, "FLY AWAY," was released on Leap Day 2024. Kyle was featured in the Winnipeg Free Press in “Survival Songs,” (August 2023, Alan Small) and was a guest on CBC’s Now or Never podcast (September 2023) where he was invited to discuss his career and story while sharing his music live on air. To learn more, please visit kylebriscoe.ca.

Kyle is honoured to be one of this year’s recipients of the David G.H. Waters Hymn Sing Memorial Award and looks forward to becoming an ambassador for the organization!

Evan Glazier is a tenor from Winnipeg. Evan graduated from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 2024, with a concentration in senior years choral education. He was awarded the Program Medal for the highest academic achievement in the Bachelor of Music Education program. This coming year, he is beginning a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma program in music performance at the University of Manitoba.

Evan is an avid performer and has sung in choirs for as long as he can remember. Throughout his undergrad, he has had the opportunity to sing with Dr. Elroy Friesen in the University Singers, with highlights including working with Andrew Balfour, Dead of Winter, and Musica Intima on the Nagamo Project, and the Peer Gynt Suite with the WSO. He is a choral scholar at Westworth United Church and also had the privilege of singing for four years in Nuovoce under Sarah Sommer and Justin Odwak. Additionally, Evan is an active stage performer, appearing in several amateur musical theatre productions as well as the 2024 Manitoba Opera production of Carmen and MO’s upcoming shows for the 2024-25 season. 

Evan intends to complete a Bachelor of Education degree before seeking work as a music educator. He hopes to inspire and cultivate young musicians to pursue their passions fully, just as he was inspired by his own music teachers.

Congratulations Kyle and Evan!