Manitoba Showcase Emerging Artists 2026

Manitoba Showcase 2026 · Brandon, MB

Emerging Artists

Meet the musicians in this year's Emerging Artist Program, Mahikanuck Ah Ho To Chick, performing at Manitoba Showcase 2026, September 17–19 at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium in Brandon.

About the Emerging Artist Program

The Emerging Artist Program, known as Mahikanuck Ah Ho To Chick, equips emerging musicians with the mentorship, skills development and professional connections needed to build touring careers in Manitoba. Each year the program selects six emerging musicians, pairs them with industry mentors, and connects them to performance opportunities across Manitoba's presenter network. Participation is free and valued at $1,000 per artist, and is open to early-career musicians who have not previously showcased. At least 50% of spots are reserved for Indigenous and equity-seeking artists, and the program welcomes all genres and applicants from across every region of Manitoba.

Participants take part in eight weekly online group mentorship sessions plus two hours of individualized mentorship, covering showcase strategy, networking, marketing and branding, EPK development, booking, contract negotiation, audience building, funding, and touring logistics. The program culminates in a live 15 to 20 minute showcase performance at Manitoba Showcase before 20 or more industry presenters, with a live Q&A. Past participants have gone on to secure solo tours, opening performances and multi-community engagements throughout Manitoba and beyond.

2026 Emerging Artists

Emerging Artist
Marjan

My name is Marjan, my love for music has brought me to where I am today. I have a passion for justice, peace and human rights. As an Afghan woman and refugee it is important for me to share my experience as well as give voice to others. I do this through my music.
Emerging Artist
Tim Cruly

I grew up between Winnipeg and my home reserve of Little Saskatchewan First Nation, watching my uncles play in their country band starting around 1979 to 80: my uncle Clifford Shorting and The Country Heartbeats. I learned guitar from my uncle and neighbour Chief Clifford Shorting, and piano from his brother Norman. I moved to Winnipeg at 14 and kept practicing the few chords I knew. Two years later I was playing bass in a band run by the Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg, rehearsing every evening in a converted pool room. We played our first shows at the North End Fair in 1983 and for the club's newcomer youth program, and I started writing songs in earnest. I've kept writing ever since, whether with The Mosquitoz or as a solo act, going back to our first group gig in The Pas in 1992.

My professional releases have come out fairly regularly since 2009. I won a MACCA (Manitoba Association of Country Arts Award) for Best New Artist Bursary at Dauphin Country Fest, which led to recording my original song "Shadowland" with producer Craig Fotheringham. My last four NCI releases have reached number two on the NCI Country Countdown, and I'm finishing a new EP, The Sounds of Rain Volume Two, due out before September 2026.

Outside music, I've worked in the Manitoba film industry since graduating from Capilano University in 2000, with credits including extras casting director, second unit director and production assistant on dozens of productions, and a lead role in the upcoming film Amber Alert. I also work as a Land Based Coordinator, teaching Indigenous youth from my community to fish, skin and clean wildlife, and to respect the animals that feed us. After a stroke, a valve transplant and a brain aneurysm in 2022 to 2023, I spent three years in physiotherapy and occupational therapy to get back to making music, and I'm grateful for the chance to bring that experience to Showcase.
Emerging Artist
The Ranger System

The Ranger System is a queer, Filipino system of seven unique identities, of which three are musicians. Between the rapping red ranger, the producing black ranger, and the keyboard-playing silver ranger, the three identities work in constant collaboration to create family-friendly, superhero and videogame inspired cinematic hip-hop, focusing on topics ranging from mental health awareness to coming of age and the celebration of one's culture.

Classically trained in Royal Conservatory of Music for piano, with a civil engineering major and a minor in hip-hop production and popular musicology, the system combines the skills developed in all facets of their life to perform, manage, do outreach, and design for their musical needs, showcasing their high energy music with a keyboard on wheels.
Emerging Artist
Ingrid Aubrey

Ingrid Aubrey is a passionate and soulful singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba who uses her gifts to bring light to the world. She chooses lyrics that bring consciousness to the forefront of listeners' minds, leaving them with a new sense of peace, hope and reflection.
Emerging Artist
Mary Diosa

Most people call me Diosa. I am a Filipino, single mother in her 40s and an IT professional. I have been performing in various community events, festivals, concerts and solo shows. I perform as a solo artist, as part of an acoustic duo (dazemusic.ca) and in a band (On Eyr), singing various genres. I believe that music is universal and should be enjoyed by anyone and everyone.
Emerging Artist
Taylor Gibson

I grew up on a small reserve north of Winnipeg, about two and a half hours away, where all of my family are into music. I always felt like a late bloomer: I didn't pick up a guitar until I was 17 and started singing at 18. I never thought I'd become a musician, or knew I had it in me to perform, but I've been competing in talent shows for the last three years. Now I want to become something more than a competitor. I want to become a performer.