Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? It is when it comes to Prodigy.
Eight gifted and disciplined singers, a visionary composer/teacher and a shared standard of excellence are all integral to Prodigy, the renowned vocal ensemble founded by Zane Zalis, music program director at Winnipeg’s Miles Macdonell Collegiate.

“Fundamentally, I’m a producer/composer who went into teaching,” says Zalis. “I had no intentions of staying, but I ended up falling in love with it.” Nearly three decades later, he’s brought his love for music and teaching together. “Teaching never prevented me from maintaining my producing and composing,” he continues. “In fact, my teaching has forced me to be a better writer and my writing has forced me to be a better teacher.”

Zalis stumbled into teaching in his early 20s, with an invitation to develop Miles Macdonell’s music program. “I felt like I was in Welcome Back, Kotter,” says Zalis. “Here I was, sitting in this room with all these guys with fuzzy earrings and big hair. We were a fit because I had never played in a school band either.”

Zalis promised his students that if they worked hard and well together, he would take them into a recording studio at the end of the year. He did and the kids were bit by the music bug.

“There was a gulf between the professional music world and music education,” says Zalis. “I developed programs that mimicked what I was doing in the professional world. At the same time, I thought that the professional world lagged behind what was happening in education. Everyone picks up a guitar, hums and strums, and thinks it is great art. There’s a place for that but there’s also a place for being erudite.”

When it started in 1982, Prodigy was a 15-person big band along the lines of Supertramp and Blood, Sweat and Tears. While the sound brought down the house, the formula proved economically challenging. Prodigy went on to experiment with jazz in the music festival competitions, but Zalis felt that route was too limiting. He wanted to develop Prodigy as a vocal experience for training in all styles.

“Prodigy is trained to not only know how to sing,” explains Zalis, “but how to listen, work on arrangements, use their ear for harmony, read music and be a consummate pro.“

And so it has continued for 26 years. Ensemble members change every year, applying through Zalis’s audition process. Prodigy has always been a mixed bag but for the last few years, the male applicants just haven’t made the grade. This year’s Prodigy is made of eight female singers between the ages of 15 and 17, and the roster will change again in the fall.

The commitment for Prodigy members is substantial. Not only must the singers keep up their academic performance, they rehearse almost every day after school. It’s not uncommon to have two performances in a week. Prodigy has performed at the Teddy Bear Picnic, the Christmas show Starry, Starry Night at the Winnipeg Convention Centre and the Nygard fashion show.

Since its inception, approximately 75 to 85 singers have graduated out of the Prodigy program. Out of that elite number, the accomplishments keep piling up. Former Prodigy member Ash Koley’s music is featured in the Paris Hilton movie The Hottie and the Nottie. Josh Youngson is the vocalist for Sick City, who signed in 2007 to produce their first full-length album. Kristi Sawka just wrapped on Rainbow Stage’s production of The Full Monty and sings with the Ron Paley Big Band.

“The training you receive is absolutely outstanding in terms of harmonies, singing technique and performance,” says Sawka. “Zane helps you make the transition from singing on the amateur level to the professional level. In the real world, it’s not okay to be mediocre because someone else is going to get that role.”

Sawka chose to attend Miles Macdonell because of the Prodigy program. She auditioned at 15 with no formal voice training. She didn’t make the cut that year but Zalis liked her voice and gave her a list of things to work on. Kristi’s second audition was successful and she sang with Prodigy for the next two years. Now 23 and poised to graduate from the University of Manitoba’s nursing program, Sawka says her most memorable performances as a Prodigy member include singing with Michael Burgess, a lead from Les Miserables, at the Pantages Playhouse, and appearing on stage with Loreena McKennitt and Tom Jackson during The Queen’s Jubilee tour.

“Tom Jackson met with us about what he wanted for his back up,” says Sawka. “We sat down with Zane and worked out harmonies. Within 45 minutes, we had a set put together. We were able to do that because of our training.“

The ensemble receives more requests than it can handle so Zalis often calls on past members of Prodigy to fill those gigs. Sawka and Koley performed with Randy Bachman for the Order of Manitoba ceremony, and Zalis invited Sawka to sing on his CD Remember, distributed in schools across Canada.

The Prodigy members are and remain a tight-knit group. Sawka is singing back-up on Koley’s EMI showcase. If Ron Paley’s band needs a singer, Sawka pulls Koley or another of her Prodigy connections.

With a long list of talented alumni, it’s clear that Zalis has a gift for spotting and training diamonds in the rough. His admiration and pride for his Prodigy members is returned with respect and affection long after the curtain call. When Sawka scored the lead in Grease, she couldn’t wait to tell her mentor.

Perhaps the key is Prodigy’s success is Zalis’s respect for the young singers as fellow artists. He demands their best but he gives the same of himself.

“I see singers in Prodigy who are phenomenally and naturally gifted,” says Zalis. “Others are well-gifted and work hard. Hard work is a common trait in all of them. We’re human, we have bad days, we learn and move on. Prodigy is a program about the whole human being through the art of vocal performance. Prodigy is an example of pursuing excellence.”