Prominent Cree composer Andrew Balfour will help the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa mark National Indigenous History Month and the National Indigenous Day of Prayer on June 14 and 15 by bringing his music to a workshop for singers, a public event, and a special service at Christ Church Cathedral.
Andrew McAnerney, associate director of music at Christ Church Cathedral, shared his excitement about the Juno-nominated composer’s collaborative visit. “He’s a great talent,” he said. “And he’s a really interesting voice, not only about Anglican church music, which he knows well because he was a chorister, but also because of his identity and his background and … his own journey that he shares as a discovery of music and culture.”
Balfour was taken away from his Cree mother as a part of the Sixties Scoop. He was adopted as an infant by a Winnipeg family with Scottish roots and a love of music. His mother was a violinist and his father was an Anglican priest, who encouraged his interest in choral music.
As a young man, however, he struggled with questions about his identity, and later with poverty, alcohol, and a brief incarceration. Along the way, however, he reconnected with his Indigenous heritage and then found his path as a musician bringing Indigenous and classical choral music together in innovative ways. He is now known as a composer, conductor, singer and sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic and orchestral works.
Balfour has been commissioned by the Winnipeg, Regina and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble Caprice, Groundswell, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Singers, the Kingston Chamber Choir, Roomful of Teeth, Tafelmusik and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. He is the founder and artistic director of the innovative vocal group Dead of Winter (formerly Camerata Nova), now in its 25th year of offering a concert series in Winnipeg. With Dead of Winter, he writes that he specializes in creating “concept concerts,” many with Indigenous subject matter (Wa Wa Tey Wak [Northern Lights], Medieval Inuit, Fallen). These works “explore a theme through an eclectic array of music, including new works, arrangements and inter-genre and interdisciplinary collaborations.”
In March, Balfour was slated to debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City, conducting selections from his work Tapwe: Songs of Truth with the Amabile Choirs, but due to an error in the paperwork for his stay in the U.S. and rigorous border security, he was denied entry into the U.S. and had to return to Canada.
“That whole concert at Carnegie was all about truth and love and compassion. So, I guess it’s kind of ironic that I get turfed,” he said in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press.
He will be warmly welcomed at Christ Church Cathedral.
McAnerney outlined the plans for three events on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15.
On the morning of Saturday, June 14, there will be a music workshop for singers. McAnerney explained that participants don’t have to be choir members, and there is no fee. Anyone who wants to participate just needs to rregister on the Cathedral website https://www.ottawacathedral.ca/
The morning workshop will also include a moderated conversation with Balfour about his music, about his art, and about being a Cree composer brought up in the Anglican choral tradition, McAnerney said. “Andrew was a boy chorister himself. That’s not a comfortable story. It’s a story that’s going to talk about that intersection of Indigenous identity and the Anglican Church because he lived that. He was adopted from his family by an Anglican priest, so we’re going to have a conversation with him about that.”
Turning back to the music itself, McAnerney explained: “We’re going to be singing four pieces, which Andrew has created. Two of those are his own composition. One is called Ambe, and that’s based on a text about welcome for all things walking on two legs. There’s Qilak, which is in Inuktitut, and it’s a piece that’s inspired by travels on Baffin Island. It’s a piece about the views, about the skies, about the snow.”
The other two pieces are fusions with choral music from the 16th and 17th centuries. Ispiciwin [Journey] sets Cree words to music by English composer Orlando Gibbons. Four Directions is an Ojibway text set to music by English composer Thomas Tallis. “There are bird songs. There are ideas of the natural world combined with this ancient English piece of polyphony,” he said.
McAnerney noted that he will offer a rehearsal for participants on June 10 at the Cathedral between 7 and 8.30. “If people want to come and learn the music before the workshop, they can do that with me. And that will be lots of fun. We’ll also have resources on the event page for the text and for learning in advance,” he said. “We recommend if people want to participate, that they do that work in advance because they’ll get more from the workshop and more from Andrew if they’ve taken some time to be familiar with the music and pieces.”
On Saturday afternoon at 1 pm, ‘Calling Out the Calls: An Act of Reconciliation’ will be held at the Cathedral, marking the 10th anniversary of the conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Bishop Shane Parker will be part of this reflective event in which the Calls to Action will be lifted up alongside Andrew Balfour’s music.
“Andrew will direct the music at that service, and the choir will be made up of people who attended the workshop [if they choose to participate] and members of our own choir.”
The final part of the weekend will be the worship service at the Cathedral on Sunday, June 15, National Indigenous Day of Prayer, and Balfour will lead the music, including William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices as well as Balfour’s Ispicwin and another version of Ambe, with the Cathedral choirs.
McAnerney added that Balfour is well-acquainted with Ottawa, having brought one of his choirs to the city last year to perform from his Juno nominated album, Nagamo. “I’ve been a big fan of his work and his art,” McAnerney added, mentioning that a professional choir he directs in Montréal is commissioning a new work from Balfour that he hopes the choir will be able to perform at the Cathedral next year.“
Composer, conductor, singer and sound designer Andrew Balfour conducts.
Photo: Matt Duboff/Courtesy Dead of Winter
Saint John, Innisville — Deanery of the Southwest