Friday. December 10th - MCI's Resonate

And every year, it seems the two weeks that Christmas Café is open passes by too quickly, because here we are for the final performance of the season! We’ve had some wonderful music shared with us from musicians from across the province, and today we wrap up with a sound we know many of you look forward to most at Christmas time.... choral music.

Mennonite Collegiate Institute’s senior vocal group Resonate is our final guest for Christmas Café, with Choral Director Christina Banman leading the group in a performance of “What Child Is This”

That’s Mennonite Collegiate Institute’s senior vocal group Resonate, today’s Christmas Café guest, sharing a beautiful version of “What Child Is This” which was performed acapella in the foyer of Buhler Hall in Gretna, which you probably heard has amazing acoustics.

Chris chatted with a few of the students who are part of the group, including Larissa Krahn - Grade 11, Ayub Regehr - Grade 12 and Asha Hildebrand - Grade 12 who was a soloist featured in the performance.

It’s always a little bittersweet to turn on and off for a final time the virtual open sign to our virtual café, but keep in mind you enjoy all of the performances from the last two weeks on our radio station blog page. Videos of each one, and the conversations we had with them, are just waiting for you when you have a moment this Christmas season.

And to give you even more opportunity to enjoy them, we are preparing a special Christmas Café Made in Manitoba for tomorrow (December 11th) at 5:05, and then again for Monday night’s Encore at 1035pm (December 13th).

Thursday. December 9th - Barbara Joy

On this morning's Christmas Cafe, it was a return visit from past Made in Manitoba guest Barbara Joy! Barbara put together a lovely rendition of "Joy to the World/Great Joy". And she even made her own video to go along with it! Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Wednesday. December 8th - W.C Miller Collegiate Junior Band

We were really looking forward to today’s guests on Christmas Café, because it was our one and only school band performance of the season. Instrumental Music Teacher Derek Klassen leads the Junior Band at W.C. Miller Collegiate in Altona, which is made up of Grade 9 and 10 students.

When we reached out to Derek to see if the band would be interested in playing, it was a resounding “YES” from the group who could hardly wait for the opportunity to perform for an audience.

The W.C. Miller Collegiate Junior Band played “Bell Carol Rock”, a modern twist on the familiar classic. Chris had a chance to speak with a few of the members of the band; Mackenzie Friesen - Grade 10, Piper Stoesz - Grade 10, Morgan Hamm - Grade 10, Kinzie Friesen - Grade 10, Hunter Giesbrecht - Grade 9.

And isn’t that the truth? How many of us recall dealing with “technical difficulties” during last Christmas. Hopefully not the case this year! Again, thank you to Instrumental Music Teacher Derek Klassen at W.C. Miller Collegiate in Altona for leading his Junior Band for this morning’s Christmas Café performance.

Tuesday. December 7th – Tiffany Butler

Joining us from her home in Souris, Tiffany Butler shared her musical gifts with us this morning, with a special rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel". it was a lovely addition to our Christmas Cafe! We got to know a bit more about Tiffany, as this was her radio debut!

Monday. December 6th – Jonathan Alexiuk and Chenoa McKelvey

Jonathan Alexiuk and Chenoa McKelvey joined our Christmas Cafe to kick off this week of music, to brighten our morning and bring us a Christmas classic. They chose "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Irving Berlin. Enjoy!

Friday. December 3rd – Chris Messytone

Joining our Christmas Cafe on Friday, a past Made in Manitoba guest! Accordionist Chris Messytone. Chris has become well-known here at Golden West for his "Twist of Lemon" song. And so, here's a "Twist of Christmas"!

Thursday, December 2nd - Sawyer Schmidtke

The coffee was hot, the cookies freshly baked and the doors were open to our Christmas Cafe again this morning!  Well, we're not sure if you actually had hot coffee and fresh cookies -- but we do know that the entertainment was in place. 9-year-old Sawyer Schmidtke amazed us with her voice, her comforting presence and her amazing Christmas wishes to us all!! Her song of choice was "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and why did she want to sing that one for us? 

Thank you Sawyer for bringing your energy, your love of everything Christmas and your amazing gift of song to our Christmas Cafe!

Wednesday, December 1st - Darren Kehler and Tina Kehler

Darren Kehler and Tina Kehler joined forces musically for Wednesday's Christmas Cafe, to share a Plautdietsch (Low German) version of "Let it Snow". ("Loot et schniejen"!). If you're not so familiar with the language, here's a translation:
Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But inside we are so comfortable
This year we cannot fly away
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Oh, the snow falls deeper and deeper, and the temperature (degrees) show always lower.
The winter weather will not stop
Do not snow, do not snow, do not snow!
A Mexico travel is doubtful. In the North we will obviously have to stay.
Now we will never be able to warm up!
But Christmas will already come
Is “the Grump” your only name!?
Stop it already with your lazy lying around --
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
There may not be many Christmas presents, but we will have a celebration anyway.
Quickly we’ll buy sugar, butter and flour, then at home we will bake cookies and Pan!
Maybe staying home isn't so bad.
For this reason, it is confirmed
We do not have to argue with relatives!
So, let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Tuesday, November 30th - Sara Neufeld and Rick Krahn

Tuesday's Christmas Cafe guests were Sara Neufeld and Rick Krahn. Sara is well-known in the Altona/Winkler area as a Dolly Parton tribute artist, but expands her repertoire to include other favourites as well. This time around, Sara and Rick joined together to share a touching rendition of "The Angels' Cried".

Monday, November 29th - Jordan Siemens and Callum Morrison

It’s one of our favourite Christmas traditions, and the annual return of our Christmas Café is here! The open sign was turned on this morning, and our first guests of the season were Altona’s Callum Morrison and Jordan Siemens are taking our virtual stage to start the season. The performed the song “What Child Is This/Child of the Poor” originally sung by Hound and Fox. Jordan talked about why they chose that song.

Chris continued the conversation with Callum about his Christmas traditions back in Scotland, where he was born and grew up.

Thank you Callum and Jordan, the fellows who took the virtual stage to open our Christmas Café!