Singer.
Born at Bern, Switzerland on 20 February 1957 to Elisabeth and Hans Burkhard, she moved with her parents to Montreal, Quebec when she was 24. There, they operated a store called Christine’s Exclusive Shoes. After the business was sold, she worked as a receptionist at a car rental business, and then as an accountant at Titanium Limited.
On 1 June 1991, she married Hermann Schuhmann and they moved to Elma, where they set up H C Electronics. She also worked at the Whitemouth District Health Centre as a Health Care Aide, Medical Receptionist, and Doctor’s Assistant from 1992 until 2011.
Having always enjoyed singing at her church, she developed her voice and musical skills to launch a career as a professional singer. Besides performing frequently in her community and the province, she also toured North America and Europe, and came to be recognized as an inspiration around the world, due to her kind and compassionate nature and what was often called “the voice of an angel.” Having grown up in multilingual Switzerland, she performed not only English standard pieces, but also those popular in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France. While in Europe, she sang at outdoor concerts in Switzerland and Austria. In Germany, her song, “Du bringst die Farben zurueck in mein Leben” (“You Bring the Colours Back into my Life”), climbed to Number One on the charts and remained there for several weeks. She also sang it in a TV competition in Switzerland called the Alpine Grand Prix and earned a commemorative award. The song was then picked up by European radio stations. A unique feature of some her singing was her skill at traditional European-style yodelling. When she yodelled as part of her performances, she once said, “the crowds went crazy.” During her career, she self-produced six compact disc recordings. Her music was often played on CKJS Radio, Winnipeg’s multicultural station.
She died on 19 May 2012 and was buried in the Whitemouth Lutheran Cemetery. A commemorative recording of her music, along with a book about her career entitled, “Are You an Angel?,” written by SusAnna Borer, was released in 2014.
“Elma treasure waiting to be discovered,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 September 2011.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 23 May 2012.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 11 September 2026
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