After nearly six years of working as Executive Director of Manitoba Choral Association, Jenny Steinke-Magnus has announced she will be leaving her role for a position at another community organization. Her last day with MCA will be Friday, March 28.
“This was a major decision for me as I have loved working with MCA and the wider choral community these past few years,” says Jenny. A lifelong choral singer and experienced choral arts administrator, Jenny started with MCA in 2019, and during her time here, she has grown the organization, launched innovative programs and events, established lasting community partnerships, redeveloped MCA’s website and brand, and digitized our lending library, just to name a few accomplishments.
Under Jenny’s leadership, MCA has engaged with the choral community in new ways, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when public health guidelines discouraged choirs from singing together in-person. “After being only a few months on the job, the world shut down and MCA had to pivot like every other arts organization,” says Jenny. “Together with our incredible board of directors, committee members, and staff, MCA came up with creative ways to keep choral music alive and offer opportunities for building and maintaining community and relationships during a difficult and isolating time.”
Some examples of “pandemic projects” included the In Tune: Virtual Meetups, Manitoba Sings Virtual Choir projects (2021 and 2022), Virtual ChoralFest, online panel discussions and webinars about Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) in the choral arts, online Tried & True choral reading sessions, a COVID-19 impact survey, and more. Jenny also collaborated with affiliated organizations in the Manitoba Music Educators’ Association to advocate to the provincial government for loosening health restrictions for choirs in schools and community spaces.
MCA also made strides to strategically place itself as a leader in the choral community during this period. In 2020, Jenny oversaw the expansion of the choral music lending library and MCA’s office move from Marion Street to our new home on the Canadian Mennonite University campus. This has proven to be a very positive change for the organization. Also that year, MCA launched our IDEA and Truth & Reconciliation work in earnest, the focus of which was solidified in 2022 when the board formulated a new strategic plan for the organization.
Following the pandemic, Jenny worked to expand the MCA staff team while at the same time spearheading the planning and implementation of many exciting programs and initiatives for the province's choral community, including the first-ever GATHER: Outdoor Choral Festival at the Lyric Theatre (2022), the BEYOND: Choral Symposium (2023), publishing Cory Campbell’s original song Gratitude on MCA’s website (2023), expanding MCA’s flagship program, ChoralFest, to include a regional tour (2023), a regional youth choir collaboration concert (2024), and several choral workshops and events for senior high and community choirs and conductors with Melanie DeMore, Dr. Melissa Morgan, Scott Leithead, Dr. Tracy Wong, and others over the years.
More recently, in 2024, Jenny was instrumental in negotiating a partnership with Winnipeg Arts Council for the Winnipeg 150: City of Song initiative that saw choirs celebrating Winnipeg’s milestone anniversary with a year of singing and increasing visibility for the choral arts around the city. As part of this initiative, MCA enhanced our own programs and launched projects such as the MB Sings 40th anniversary celebration, the Together in Song: Intercultural Choral Festival, a community sing-along, a choral workshop with the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the INSPIRE: Youth Choral Symposium, and the second rendition of GATHER.
“2024 was all about establishing partnerships with community organizations and choirs,” Jenny shares. “Last year we were thrilled to partner with Winnipeg Arts Council, local choirs Musica Singers and Manitoba Chinese Choir, and many organizations for GATHER, including RBC Royal Bank, St. John’s Ambulance, ArtsJunktion, and the many choirs and singing groups that performed on stage throughout that day,” she adds. In 2024 MCA also established a partnership with Festival du Voyageur to offer Voyageur Choir sessions for the 2025 program. MCA looks forward to seeing this and many other community partnerships continuing to flourish well into the future.
While Jenny says she is proud of all she has accomplished during her time at MCA, she also looks forward to moving forward to the next step in her career path as Program Director for the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce. In her new role she will have the opportunity to serve members of Manitoba’s 2SLGBTQ+ and ally business community by establishing new programs, running networking and professional development events, redeveloping their website, enhancing membership benefits, and much more (similar to her work with MCA!). “I am looking forward to applying my skills and experience gained from MCA to another provincial member service organization,” Jenny says.
Jenny shares that her time at MCA has made a huge impact on her professional and personal life: “The Manitoba choral community is truly unique, and MCA has left an indelible mark on me,” she says. “Through MCA I have found a place in this community and I will cherish the memories I have made with all of the members, conductors, singers, guest artists, musicians, and volunteers I have worked with over the years. I have made lifelong friendships that I know will endure long after I have left this role.”
MCA is indeed grateful for all that Jenny has done for the organization and we wish her all the best as she moves on to her new role. Although she is moving to a different sector, she still plans to be active in the choral community as a singer and volunteer, so community members are certain to cross paths with her again somewhere in The Singing Province!
Members of the choral community are invited to join us for a come-and-go farewell event for Jenny at the MCA office (Winnipeg) on Thursday, March 27, between 2:00pm and 7:00pm. Light refreshments will be served.
Jenny’s position has now been posted on our website, and we encourage interested candidates to apply to become MCA’s new Executive Director to lead MCA into our next chapter of elevating choral music in our province! Applications will be accepted until April 4, 2025.