Ann Lugsdin Memorial Bursary

Audrey Belyea Scholarship

Camerata Nova Bursary

Emmanuel Horch Memorial Bursaries

Frances Wickberg Bursary

James Vaclav Machovec Memorial Bursary

John Melnyk Memorial Bursary

Joy of Music Scholarships

Junior Musical Club Bursary

Len Hew Bursary

Lydia Wiebe Scholarship

M. Winnifred Sim Bursary

Madge O. Stevens Bursary

Mary Campbell Memorial Bursaries

Morna-June Morrow Scholarships

Norman Phillips Bursaries

Stewart M. Thomson Memorial Bursary

W.H. Anderson Family Bursary

Walter & Helen Bohonos Award

Wednesday Morning  Musicale Award and Bursaries

Wickberg/Mercier Bursary

Winnipeg Mennonite Children’s Choir and Alumni Golden Era Bursaries

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Awards

Stewart M. Thomson Memorial Bursary

At age 12, Stewart began accompanying his father in recitals and concerts. During his school years, he performed in Gilbert & Sullivan productions, accompanied choirs and appeared as solo pianist with The Winnipeg Schools Orchestra. He also competed in solo piano classes and in duet classes with Audrey Belyea at the Manitoba Competitive Music Festival.

While an architect by profession, music and the church were Stewart’s greatest joy. In 1951 he assumed the position of organist at St. James Anglican Church. In 1954, he became deputy organist of St. George’s Anglican Church, Crescentwood, directed by Donald Leggat, whom he succeeded as organist and choirmaster on January 1, 1956. For the next 50 years, Stewart developed and maintained a tradition of choral excellence with the Men and Boys’ choir, the last of its kind in Western Canada. In training the treble voice, he developed hundreds of singers, many of whom have become accomplished musicians in their own right.

Stewart was the first church choir director in Winnipeg to use brass and percussion instruments in worship services, and introduced countless contemporary choral compositions by English composers. He was regularly called upon to assemble and conduct massed choirs for special diocesan services, including the consecration of Bishops.

Outside the church, Stewart was also very active in music, locally and nationally as a chorus master, vocal coach and especially an accompanist. He was an accompanist of the Winnipeg Male Voice Choir, accompanist and then Chorus Master of the Winnipeg Philharmonic choir from 1967 to 1975, and the Manitoba Youth Choir for 17 years. He prepared children’s choruses for performances with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Manitoba Theatre Centre and, for 30 years, the Manitoba Opera Association. Stewart was also a fixture at the Winnipeg Music Festival as an accompanist at all voice levels.

The Stewart M. Thomson Memorial Bursary accompanies the trophy of the same name, which is awarded for the most outstanding performance in a competition of boys with unchanged voices, 8 & 10 years of age and under.