ALMA WYNNE MEMORIAL TROPHY

The St. David's Society donated the Alma Wynne Memorial Trophy to the Winnipeg Music Festival in 1949, in memory of Alma Wynne, who died tragically as a youth in a train accident. This trophy was originally awarded in an annual competition of Junior Vocal Class winners. Since 1960, it has been awarded for the most outstanding performance in a competition of vocalists, 18 years of age & under.

Alma Wynne was born in 1929 and died tragically in the Dugald train wreck on Labour Day 1947. She was a student at Laura Secord School and Gordon Bell High School. She studied singing with Doris Mills. Alma was a talented young lady, with a beautiful singing voice and outstanding dramatic and artistic abilities. She performed in her school operetta productions, and in 1946, at age seventeen, participated in the Winnipeg Music Festival, winning the Junior Contralto solo, Junior Folk Song solo and Junior Gilbert & Sullivan Operatic solo classes. In the latter class, she received a mark of 95 for her interpretation of Mad Margaret's Song from Ruddigore. The adjudicator Mr. Golsbrough said, "No words of mine could do justice to this performance. It is so mature and imaginative - it was a staggering performance".

Year Winner Year Winner
1949 Elaine Noreene Oakley 1980 Tracy Dahl
1950 Shirley Vincent 1981 Viviana Zarrillo
1951 Heather Lindsay 1982 Carla Lother
1952 Henriette Platford 1983 Raymond Sokalski
1953 Lorraine Mensforth 1984 Tuesday April Royko
1954 Peggy Dryden 1985 Cheryl Martin
1955 Donna Joan Neily 1986 Matthew Ball
1956 Edward Ewanko 1987 Melinda Enns
1957 Marcelle Monette 1988 Sung Taek Chung
1958 Helmut Rischer 1989 Millicent Scarlett
1959 Bill Thiessen 1990 Jaylene Reigh McBurney
1960 James Ryan 1991 James Ross McLennan
1961 Joy Gislason 1992 Glen Nowell
1962 Mary Nowell 1993 Kristjan Hayden
1963 Niels S. Lund 1994 Gillian Dawn Storsley
1964 Diane Landry 1995 Amanda Hammond
1965 Judy Lander 1996 Valdine Ritchie
1966 Barbara Dumas 1997 Rachael Harwood-Jones
1967 Sandra Head 1998 Paula McLeod
1968 Elizabeth Adams 1999 Cindy MacDonald
1969 Olivia Belyea 2000 Kayla Vande Kraats
1970 Carla Norris 2001 Cherise Kotelniski
1971 Ken Maslowsky 2002 Sarah Halmarson
1972 Irene Koenecke 2003 Heather Kozak
1973 Carol Justice 2004 Alastair Thomson
1974 Peter Barnes 2005 Kathryn Patrick
1975 Andrew Thomson 2006 Lara Secord-Haid 
1976 Lisa Cosens 2007 Ashley Klassen
1977 Bruce Murray Waldie 2008 Matthew Fletcher
1978 Andrea E. Ilchena 2009 Jessica Kos-Whicher
1979 Lisa Topham