trans voices forward

about

Trans Voices Forward (TVF) is Rainbow Harmony Project’s new initiative dedicated to uplifting, celebrating, and supporting trans and gender‑expansive singers across Manitoba. Through gender‑affirming workshops, learning spaces, and individual coaching, this project creates welcoming opportunities for trans and gender-expansive individuals to explore their voices, build confidence, and connect with community.

Trans Voices Forward features two artist residencies led by internationally recognized vocal and choral specialists:

November - Dr. Cee Adamson
March - Dr. Ari Agha

Each residency includes school and public workshops, professional development opportunities for teachers and conductors, and opportunities for one‑on‑one lessons. Together, these residencies expand access to gender‑affirming music education and strengthen the future of inclusive choral work in Manitoba.

Explore the details below to learn more about each residency and find the workshop or learning experience that fits your journey.

november residency

November 5 - 9

Our November residency welcomes Dr. Cee Adams (she/they), a vocalist and choral educator known for their gender‑affirming approach to voice education and ensemble work. During this residency, Cee will lead workshops, coach individual singers, and work directly with Rainbow Harmony Project choirs to explore vocal technique, repertoire, and group sound through a gender‑affirming lens. This residency offers teachers, conductors, and community singers a chance to learn alongside RHP and experience Cee’s thoughtful, research‑informed, and deeply supportive approach to vocal learning.

Dr. Cee E. Adamson

Dr. Cee E. Adamson (she/they) is a singer, conductor, voice educator, music scholar, and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersections of voice, identity, gender, race, memory, and belonging. Moving between performance, research, pedagogy, and community-engaged practice, she is especially interested in how singing can become a site of storytelling, self-discovery, remembrance, resistance, and collective connection. As a vocalist, she performs in the beguiling and liminal space between countertenor and mezzo-soprano, embracing vocal fluidity as both a musical resource and a lens for reconsidering conventional ideas about voice type, repertoire, gender, and classical performance. Their artistic interests include early music, art song, contemporary music, and opera, particularly works that illuminate complex human experiences or invite audiences to encounter familiar traditions from new perspectives. Her operatic roles include Oberon in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Giulio Cesare in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Mercédès in Bizet’s Carmen, and Florence Pike in Britten’s Albert Herring. She has also appeared with Glimmerglass Opera and participated in Seattle Opera’s Creation Lab, contributing to the development of new operatic work. At the center of their current creative and scholarly practice is an ongoing investigation of the relationship between voice and identity, particularly for singers whose voices, bodies, or lived experiences challenge inherited assumptions within Western classical music. Their doctoral dissertation, The Transfemme Voice: Exploring the Lived Experiences and Vocal Identity of Three Black Transfemme Treble Voice Singers, examines the intersections of race, gender, vocal identity, self-perception, and social experience. This inquiry extends into performance, repertoire exploration, and collaborative music-making. By reimagining established vocal traditions, she asks who is permitted to inhabit particular musical spaces, whose voices are centered, and how inherited repertoire can acquire new meaning through contemporary lived experience. Community-based music-making is equally central to their practice. She serves as Executive and Artistic Director of STANCE: Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble, where she develops programming grounded in musical excellence, accessibility, artistic exploration, and community. Adamson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Washington, with a secondary focus in Choral Conducting, as well as graduate degrees from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Shenandoah Conservatory. Across performance, scholarship, and community-engaged work, their practice continues to explore what becomes possible when artists are free to inhabit the full complexity of their voices, identities, histories, and stories.

schedule of events

Community Workshop: Brandon

Thursday, November 5

7:30 - 9:30pm

Brandon, MB - Venue TBD

We're bringing the TVF excitement to Western Manitoba! Join Dr. Cee Adamson for a dynamic, hands‑on workshop that celebrates trans and gender‑expansive voices through creativity, exploration, and community fun.

Open to all ages and experience levels, this workshop invites everyone to join in, explore, and be part of the first Trans Voices Forward event in Brandon — helping us grow gender‑affirming music education across the province.

$40/person (Pay-what-you-can-tickets also available)

Community Workshop: Winnipeg

Saturday, November 7

10:00am - 1:00pm

Young United Church

Get ready for an energizing, joy‑filled workshop with Dr. Cee Adamson! This session invites trans and gender‑expansive singers (and anyone curious about gender‑affirming vocal practice) to explore their voices in a supportive, creative, and fun environment.

Through interactive exercises, playful vocal exploration, and community‑building activities, participants will learn practical tools for vocal health, confidence, and authentic expression.

Open to all ages, this session welcomes anyone who wants to learn, connect, and make music in a joyful, inclusive space.

$40/person (Pay-what-you-can-tickets also available)

Individual Lessons

Friday, November 6 | 4:00 - 8:00pm

Sunday, November 8 | 11:30am - 3:30 pm

Manitoba Conservatory of Music & Arts

As part of the Trans Voices Forward residency, singers have the opportunity to book one‑on‑one lessons with internationally recognized vocalist and choral educator Dr. Cee Adamson.

These individualized sessions offer tailored guidance in gender‑affirming vocal technique, healthy voice use, repertoire exploration, and navigating voice changes. Lessons are open to trans and gender‑expansive singers of all ages and experience levels.

Participants may choose between 30‑minute or 60‑minute sessions, allowing for flexible, per

$60/ hour

book lesson

School Workshop

Friday, November 6

10:00 - 11:30am

Maples Collegiate Commons

This interactive workshop introduces school choirs of all ages and types to gender‑affirming vocal pedagogy in an accessible, age‑appropriate format. Led by Dr. Cee Adamson, the session explores healthy vocal techniques, inclusive language practices, and approaches to singing that support all gender identities. Choirs will participate in guided exercises, demonstrations, and open discussion in a safe and welcoming environment.

University students, conductors, or educators who are unable to bring their choir are welcome to audit the session.

$150/school; $40/person to audit

PD Workshop

Sunday, November 8

4:30 - 6:30pm

Manitoba Conservatory of Music & Arts

This professional development session, led by vocalist and choral educator Dr. Cee Adamson, is designed for music educators, conductors, voice teachers, and community leaders seeking to build more inclusive and gender‑affirming musical environments.

Participants will explore foundational concepts in gender‑affirming vocal pedagogy, practical strategies for supporting trans and gender‑expansive singers, and tools for integrating inclusive practices into classrooms, studios, and ensembles.

Through guided discussion, demonstrations, and evidence‑informed approaches, this workshop offers educators a deeper understanding of how voice, identity, and musical expression intersect, and how to create spaces where all singers can thrive.

$50/person

Open Rehearsal

Monday, November 9

7:00 - 9:30pm

Immanuel United Church

Join RHP for a special open rehearsal as part of the Trans Voices Forward residency. This session takes place during our regular rehearsal time, but we’re opening the doors to teachers, conductors, community singers, and anyone interested in seeing gender‑affirming vocal education in action.

Residency clinician Cee Adams will lead a workshop with RHP on selected repertoire, focusing on vocal technique, ensemble sound, and gender‑affirming approaches to choral singing.

Whether you’re a music educator who couldn’t attend other TVF events, a singer curious about joining RHP, or someone wanting to learn more about gender‑affirming voice work, this open rehearsal offers a relaxed, informative, and community‑rooted way to engage with the project.

Free (RSVP Required)

rsvp

march residency

In March, Trans Voices Forward will welcomes Dr. Ari Agha (they/them) for a week‑long residency running March 8–14. Ari brings their nationally recognized expertise in gender‑affirming vocal education, embodied voice work, and community‑centred learning. This residency includes public workshops, professional development for teachers and conductors, individual coaching, and expanded outreach activities beyond Winnipeg, offering opportunities for rural and regional engagement.

A highlight of the residency is a public performance of Key of T, Ari’s acclaimed multimedia project blending classical vocal artistry with storytelling about gender transition and voice. Throughout the week, singers, educators, and community members will have multiple ways to learn, observe, and participate in gender‑affirming vocal education in action.

More details coming soon - stay tuned!

thank you

Trans Voices Forward is made possible through the dedication of our volunteer committee, the collaboration of our partner organizations, and the generous support of our funders. If you or your organization are interested in partnering, sponsoring, or contributing to the future of this project, we’d love to connect. Your support helps expand access to gender‑affirming vocal education in our community.