Local News
Local musical theatre veteran expresses her admiration for Winnipeg Music Festival talent
By MYRON LOVE Regular readers of The Jewish Post & News will no doubt be aware that this writer has been highlighting the outstanding achievement of younger members of our community competing in the annual Winnipeg Music Festival. This year, however, I am taking a slightly different approach with a focus on the other side of the equation – that is, on one of the judges.
Debbie Maslowsky has been a fixture of the musical theatre scene in Winnipeg for almost as long as I can remember. Her career started in high school and continued through Rainbow Stage, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre and much more – including numerous Yiddish concerts in partnership with her late brother, Jerry.
This year though, was the first time that she was asked to be an adjudicator for the Winnipeg Music Festival’s musical theatre category and, she confesses, she was blown away by the talent that was on display.
“It was soul-filling,” she says, “especially after these last couple of years. I was impressed by the commitment of the young performers. I also have to credit the accompanists and voice teachers in helping to choose the right material for the participants.”
Maslowsky herself notes that she has never competed in the Music Festival. “Music theatre wasn’t one of the categories when I was growing up,” she observes. “And I wasn’t that competitive.”
She came to the festival this year through a recommendation from a voice teacher, she reports, based on experience gained over many years as a teacher of musical theatre and coach.
“The adjudicators work within specific guidelines, she says. “We are not looking necessarily for the best singer, but rather, base our decisions on the overall performance including gestures, movement and confidence.”
She points out that songs today are more story-driven than they used to be. Reflecting that, she points out, the festival organizers this year, for the first time, separated the musical theatre category into songs written before 1995 and after –with more recent songs conveying a lot more information aimed at driving the story.
Maslowsky reports that she was overwhelmed by the sheer number of submissions – more than 200 – all of which were virtual performances. “They were all wonderful and interesting in different ways,” she says.
One of those performances that obviously got her eye was that of Yale Rayburn-Vander Hout who scored a first place standing in the CLASS 1257C MUSICALS 1965 TO 1999, UP TEMPO, 16 YEARS AND UNDER category with his interpretation of “Mr. Cellophane” from the musical “Chicago”.
He was also in the running for the Rainbow Stage Trophy.
Last year, the 15-year-old son of Samantha and Peter was runner-up in in two categories – Vocal Solo, Musical Theatre, Up Tempo and Ballad, for males, 16 and under.
The Grade 10 Gray Academy student has been studying voice with Kelly Robinson for six years and was scheduled to appear in Rainbow Stage’s 2020 production of “the Wizard of Oz”, which was, however, cancelled due to Covid. He has also taken part in his school’s musical productions.
“I feel real good about my performance at the Music Festival this year and am looking forward to competing again next year,” he says.
He adds that he is hoping to pursue a career in musical theatre.
Also under consideration for the Rainbow Stage Trophy this year was Hannah Schaeffer, who finished first in CLASS 1207E-14 MUSICALS 2000 TO PRESENT, UP TEMPO, 14 YEARS AND UNDER category – with a performance of “Watch What Happens” from the musical “Newsies” – and was runner up in the CLASS 1207D-14 MUSICALS 1965 TO 1999, BALLAD, 14 YEARS AND UNDER category for “Home” from “The Wiz”.
This is the fourth year that the older daughter of Marc Schaeffer and Kai Sasake has participated. Last year, the then Grade 8 Grant Park Student finished first in the Vocal Solo, Musical Theatre, Ballad, Girls, 14 and under and was recommended for the provincial competition. The year before, she had a second-place finish as part of a vocal trio. In 2019, she won gold in the Vocal Solo, TV and movie musicals at the Girls 12 and under category and scored a first place finish as part of a trio in the Musical Theatre Grade B level. That year, she was also the recipient of a Winnipeg Music Festival scholarship.
“I am looking forward to competing in next year’s festival, too,” she says.
The young singer has been taking singing lessons for six years and participates in her school’s musicals. She is scheduled to sing the role of Roxie Hart in the upcoming Grant Park High School production of “Chicago” in April.
New to the Festival winner’s circle this year is Zoe Reider, who finished first in the Class 1692 Vocal Duet, Musical Theatre, 16 years, and who has been singing under Geoffrey Heal. The 15-year-old Gray Academy student says that she feels good about her – and her partner’s – performance and is proud to have finished first in her category.
The daughter of Ray Reider has been studying musical theatre with Brenda Gorlick at Winnipeg Studio Theatre for the past six years, at the Theatre Dance Centre under the direction of Kathleen Henry, and at Meraki Theatre Productions, which was founded by Taylor Gregory. Zoe notes that she also teaches dance at Meraki.
She notes that she has acted in several Fringe Festival shows.
“My goal is to appear on Broadway,” she says
In the instrumental part of the Festival, Gregory Hyman once again shone. The 13-year-old son of Hartley and Rishona Hyman scored gold twice, playing classical guitar – Once in the category of Romantic Composers and a second time for a piece of his own choosing.
“I am happy to have won again,” says the Grade 8 St. John’s-Ravenscourt student. (This was the fifth year in a row that he has competed in the Festival.) “I enjoy the challenge of competing in the Festuival.”
Gregory has been studying guitar since he was five and has been taking voice lessons for the past five years.
Nor does he restrict his music making just to the yearly festival. Two years ago, he launched a career as a musician, producer and podcaster. His podcast, “Talk and Rock with Gregory Hyman,” now in its third season, features him interviewing various people in the music business across Canada. Two years ago the young talent, who has also taught himself electric and acoustic guitar, and who goes under the professional name “GMH Rocks”, released his first album, “Basement”, on all streaming platforms. He followed that with a single release in February 2021, and a new album this past February.
Local News
Fringe Festival star Melanie Gall to appear at Gwen Secter Centre July 16
By BERNIE BELLAN A veteran performer at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Melanie Gall, will be making a special guest appearance at the Gwen Secter Centre on Thursday, July 16.
Melanie will be the featured speaker (and entertainer) for the Remis Speakers’ Series that day. The Remis Speakers’ Series is held every Thursday starting at noon and ending at 1:30. This year’s series began May 7 and will continue through the end of October. This year it has been attracting increasingly large audiences – ranging from 40-60 people, as it offers attendees the opportunity to enjoy a delicious – and kosher lunch, while listening to a very diverse variety of speakers – all the way from Gail Asper talking about returning the Ten Commandments to Assiniboine Park to Rabbi Matthew Leibl performing Christmas songs that were written by Jewish songwriters. At the same time it provides those attending a chance to make new acquaintances – or perhaps bump into old friends they haven’t seen in a long time.
Melanie Gall’s own story is sure to be riveting. I’ve written about Melanie in the past, but the past two summers had been especially nerve wracking for Melanie, as she was subjected to a torrent of antisemitic abuse over her support for the State of Israel.
You can read my story about what Melanie went through during the Winnipeg Fringe Festival – both in 2024 and again last year, at Melanie Gall subjected to antisemitic abuse.
Melanie, who will be entering her 13th year of performing at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, will be peforming in only one show this year – a departure from her past practice of performing in multiple shows (as many as three different shows) during the Fringe Festival.
Elsewhere on this website we’ll be offering a preview of Melanie’s show (which is called “The Ballad of Isobel Gunn” and which is based on an incredible, but true story), along with previews of several other shows.
In the meantime, if you’re not already a member of the Remis Speakers’ Series group, but would ike to attend this coming Thursday, simply email us at jewishp@mymts.net and we’ll reserve a spot for you. The cost for the lunch is only $20.
The Gwen Secter Centre is located at 1588 Main Street (corner of Smithfield). There is parking available on a lot behind the centre or on the street.
Local News
Folk Festival Report
(Posted July 10) During this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival we’re going to be running an ongoing blog report – with photos and blurbs from the festival, sent to us by Heather Silbert and Samara Ebanks.
Here’s Heather’s first entry (sent Friday at 3:33 pm): “It’s a hot hot day at the 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival! Lots of people; lots of good vibes; and an abundance of awesome music!!”
“We just moved to spruce hollow. Nice and shady. listening to Jacob Brodovsky.”
4:21 pm: “Jacob just announced that he lost his job and received a lot of vitriol from the Jewish Community because he’s a Jewish person who believes that Palestinian and Jewish lives are intertwined, and he is against the genocide. He is very deeply feeling, and expresses all these big feelings through his songs. I want to give him a hug, but it’s so hot outside!”
5:33 pm: The inscription in the plaque below begins with some lines from a Bruce Cockburn song called “Joy Will Find a Way (A Song About Dying)”: and continues with: “Memory Lane honours those who are no longer with us but whose presence lives on in the music, memories and moments we share here…”
7:06 pm “Gorgeous hand made polymer clay jewelry! Amanda Greisman makes gorgeous pieces that can be worn across many occasions! And she’s so so nice!” (See her booth called “Blue Sky Jewelry.”
(Keep checking for updates)
Local News
New GrowWinnipeg “Grow Together” highlights diverse origins of our growing Jewish community
By MYRON LOVE On Monday, June 11, about 120 younger Jewish Winnipeggers from diverse backgrounds came together at the Asper Campus for an evening of food and music, games and prizes and, most important, the opportunity to socialize with their peers from a growing community that reflects the long term success of our community’s 26-year-old GrowWinnipeg initiative.
“We are gathered here to celebrate your and your parents’ decisions to come to Winnipeg, build families and raise families here,” noted Dalia Szpiro, GrowWinnipeg’s director, in addressing the young adults in attendance.
To summarize, the GrowWinnipeg Initiative arose when our past community’s leadership recognized that our Jewish population was an aging and shrinking community with aging infrastructure.
The first stage was the planning and construction of the Asper Campus, which brought our major institutions and organizations under one roof in an attractive new building.
The next challenge was to attract more people to our community. GrowWinnipeg was created to take on the challenge. The initiative, which was officially launched in 2000, is unique in its efforts to reach out to young Jewish families throughout the Western world.
The first outreach efforts were directed at Argentina’s sizeable Jewish community at a time when the South American country’s economy was going through a very difficult period. Several of our community leaders visited the Jewish community in Buenos Aires and a website was established. Arrangements were made for local families to host Jewish Argentinians here on exploratory visits and the community helped the prospective immigrants navigate the then new Provincial Nominee Program, find jobs and establish themselves here.
Since then, many young families – from Argentina, as well as a great number of other countries – have chosen to make Winnipeg their new home. The young people at the recent GrowWinnipeg evening were reflective of the diversity of our growing community. During the course of the evening, I had the opportunity to speak with not only Israeli-born participants, also young people from Russia and Ukraine, Turkey and Uruguay – and a young lady who grew up in Ottawa.
Naomi Kirshenblatt Palansky originally came here from Ottawa to go to university. She met and married local entrepreneur Noah Palansky in 2023. (We wrote about Noah in the December 19, 2025 issue). That same year, the former competitive swimmer who competed in the Maccabiah Games in 2009 and 2013 served as manager of the Canadian Junior swimming team participating in the games. She is currently the director of operations and strategy for a company called CoinFlip.
Although born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Yael Borovich grew up in Winnipeg. She is the daughter of Dalia Szpiro and Eduardo Borovich (and younger sister of Vanessa) all of whom moved here in 2002. She is a graduate of the Asper School of Business and works as a senior client relationship manager for Scotia Bank’s commercial branch.
Siblings Igal and Edem Avimelek arrived here from Turkey six years ago with their parents, Etel and Moris. Edem is in her second year at the University of Manitoba while Igal is studying engineering at UBC.
They report that their father, Moris, has established the Upperwear Textile Agency – marketing textile products online – while their mother Etel, is senior IT Director, software development and data analytics and enterprise architecture at Standard Aero.
“Our parents were looking to move to a new country and came across the GrowWinnipeg webpage,” Edem says. “GrowWinnipeg has been really supportive of us in helping us move here and become established.”
More recent arrivals Alex Tsmokaliuk and Jane Hin are from Ukraine and Russia respectively and have been together since 2022. “We were looking for a peaceful place to start a family,”: Alex says. “We heard about GrowWinnpeg and here we are.”
Alex is a fitness trainer while Jane is working for WRE Development as a property manager.
Dora Bronstein, who is originally from Beersheva, is also a recent arrival to our community. “I came to Winnipeg because I wanted to get away from war – and I heard about GrowWinnipeg,” she says.
She is currently working for L.C. Taylor Licensed Insolvency Trustee as an estate manager.
Erele Tzidon and Daniel Mejnov
Last October, GrowWinnipeg introduced its new Youth Ambassadors program.
“Since October, we have been working to create an organized system and opportunities to help young newcomers find their people within our community,” wrote Youth Ambassador Erele Tzidon on Facebook.
“Our mission is to help young immigrants find a sense of home in Winnipeg and support a smooth and welcoming transition.
We are excited to help bring our young Jewish community together.
As reported in the Jewish Post about 18 months ago, Tzidon is originally from Moshav Ginaton in central Israel. She came to Winnipeg in 2018 with her parents Ofer – formerly regional manager for a car rental agency in Israel and now an RBC branch manager – and Sharon – an emotional therapist in Israel who is currently working as an educational assistant at Gray Academy – and three younger brothers.
The 20-year Gray Academy graduate has recently completed her third year in Science at the University of Manitoba. For the past three years, she has also been a member of Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin’s research team at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (ICS), researching the link between pregnancy complications and the risk for heart disease.
In November, 2024, Tzidon was presented with the Dr. James S. McGoey Student Award – based on the quality of her cardiovascular research at the ICS, which operates out of the St. Boniface Hospital campus’s Albrechchtsen Research Centre.
Tzidon’s fellow Youth Ambassador is Daniel Mejnov. He was born in Beersheva but moved to Winnipeg with his parents, Dennis and Victoria (and younger brother Alon) 14 years ago. He is currently enrolled in an IT program at the University of Winnipeg.
Mejnov welcomed all those in attendance at the celebration and thanked the volunteers who helped him and Tzidon organize the event.
“It has been great being able to bring so many people together,” he said. “This is a good way to unite our community.
Two other individuals of particular note that I spoke with at the event were Orit Agabayev and Alina Plis, partners in three year old A and O Event Décor, who provided the balloon arches and walls, table settings and centre pieces for the evening.
Agabayev is originally from Netanya and Plis is from Yeruham (in southern Israel). The latter has been here for 18 years and operates a daycare. The former came 16 years. Her principal career is working in the field of animal nutrition.
In an Instagram PosI from four years ago, Plis noted that “I have always been passionate about planning parties and events. I started out with planning big surprise birthday parties for my kids. Eventually I began planning and decorating events for family and friends. Now I am taking the next step with my friend, Orit, who shares the same level enthusiasm as me. What drives me to go above and beyond is simply the excitement my creations bring to those who see my work.
On Facebook, Agabayev added that “Alina and I are so excited to start A&O event decor. We both love decorating and planning different events. We hope that you can put your trust in us to create or decorate an event for you. We do Birthday parties, anniversaries, bachelor/bachelorette parties, proposals, weddings and more..
“Message us with your ideas to get a free quote and you’re one step closer to having an unforgettable event.”
