Gather Listen Hear: Indigenous Classical Music Concert

Juno nominated Cris Derksen is an internationally respected Indigenous Cellist and Composer. In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — gets labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta she comes from a line of chiefs from North Tallcree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music. As a performer Derksen performs nationally and internationally as a soloist and in collaboration with some of Canada’s finest, including Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson, to name a few. Recent concert destinations include Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, and a whole lot of Canada: the place Derksen refers to as home.

2021 commissions include pieces for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Ottawa's Chamberfest, the City of Toronto, Edmonton New Music, the Edmonton Symphony with support from the National Arts Centre, Vancouver's Blueridge Chamber Festival, Vancouver Transform Cabaret, and a 4-part docuseries for the Knowledge Network. 

Beverley McKiver is an Anishinaabe artistic music creator. A pianist since childhood, in recent years she has poured her passion and energy into contemporary classical composition. Beverley has composed for solo piano, choirs, small ensembles, vocalists and carillon. Beverley’s musical influences include a wide gamut of classical, jazz, liturgical, and Indigenous musicians and composers. In her work and in her life, she aspires to honour nature, while recalling both the joys and tribulations of her ancestors.

Melody McKiver’s (they/them, do not use any other pronouns) musical work integrates electronics with Western classical music to shape a new genre of Anishinaabe compositions.  A proud member of Obishikokaang Lac Seul First Nation, Melody is currently Assistant Professor of Indigenous Music (tenure-track) with the Desaultels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba and a member of the Mizi'iwe Aana Kwat (LGBTQ2S+ Council) within the Anishinaabe Nation of Treaty #3. They are the 2020 recipient of the Canada Council's Robert Flaming Prize awarded annually to an exceptionally talented young Canadian composer, and a recurring invited participant in the Banff Centre for the Arts’ Indigenous Classical Music gatherings. 

A frequent performer across Turtle Island, Melody has performed at the National Arts Centre, Luminato Festival, Vancouver’s Western Front, and the Toronto International Film Festival. They have shared stages with Polaris Prize winners Lido Pimienta, Tanya Tagaq, and Jeremy Dutcher, and performed with acclaimed filmmaker and musician Alanis Obomsawin. As a composer, Melody has a growing body of chamber and choral works. Notably, they were commissioned by Soundstreams and Jumblies Theatre to compose Odaabaanag, a string quartet responding to Steve Reich’s Different Trains, drawing on interviews conducted with Anishinaabe elders from Melody’s. Melody has scored several films and was invited to the Berlinale Talents Sound Studio as a music and composition mentor for the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. Additional commissions have included Cluster Festival, Marina Thibeault, Duo AIRS, Brandon University, Megumi Masaki, Carnegie Mellon University, and TORQ Percussion with the Elora Singers. Upcoming projects include a setting of Métis author Katherena Vermette’s poem river woman for the Elora Singers and TORQ Percussion Quartet, and a full-length album in 2023. Melody holds an MA in Ethnomusicology from Memorial University and a BFA in Music and Indigenous Studies from York University.
 

anang binesi (he/him), an anishinaabe percussionist and composer from manidoo bawitigong in treaty no.3, ontario. rooted in their indigenous world views, anang binesi challenges the classical music canon through performance, conversations, and compositions. their work moves beyond the mere concept of "inclusion", focusing instead on the creation of new musicking spaces that take on the important anishinaabe values of reciprocity and community. with a passion for education, anang binesi uses their compositions to encourage and guide musicians in this reimagining of musical spaces.

anang binesi is generously supported by banff centre artists' awards and the michael davies scholarship endowment fund.
 

Originally from Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario, Anishinaabe flutist Tyler Evans-Knott is currently pursuing a Diploma in Flute Performance through Camosun College and the Victoria Conservatory of Music, studying with Emily Nagelbach and also participating in the Collegium Young Artists program at the VCM. A recipient of several awards and scholarships, Tyler has performed regularly as a soloist and in ensembles such as the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Kawartha Youth Orchestra, Peterborough Concert Band, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and in joint concerts with the Toronto Symphony and Vancouver Symphony. In April 2022, he performed for “The Path Forward” with the Vancouver Symphony and the VSO Indigenous Arts Council. Recently, Tyler has begun his career as a freelance musician performing as a sub with The Victoria Symphony.

Tyler Evans-Knott is generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Frederick Louis Crosby Memorial Endowment.

Lorena Navarro is a percussionist and educator based in East Lansing, MI. She has performed with artists such as Gwendolyn Dease in recitals and with Sō Percussion during their MSU Appearance at the Wharton Center in 2022. She regularly performs in community choirs and orchestra pits for musical theatre shows. 

As an educator, Lorena has been teaching percussion for the past eight years. Some of her students have succeeded in state solo and ensemble competitions and earned acceptances into collegiate percussion programs. In addition to her involvement in teaching, she is also an arranger. She has arranged for college ensembles, including the MSU Drumline and the MSU Percussion Ensemble. 

She is currently pursuing her DMA in Percussion Performance at Michigan State University with Gwendolyn Dease and Jon Weber. She holds her Masters from Michigan State University and her Bachelors from Utah Valley University. Lorena also had the opportunity to study with world-renowned marimbist and composer Keiko Abe at Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan for eight months.  

Lorena Navarro is generously supported by the Repsol Emerging Artists Award.
 

Shea Iles is a Métis composer and guitarist from Grande Prairie, Alberta. He graduated from MacEwan University in 2021 and is currently working towards a master’s degree in Composition at the University of Calgary. His compositional process often draws on artistic mediums outside of music such as film, poetry, and visual art. His recent works include “pen and ink” for India Gailey (solo cello), “Two Sonnets for Piano Trio” for Land’s End Ensemble, and “minim” for New Music Edmonton’s Summer Solstice Festival (solo guitar and fixed electronics). He recently began studies with Krista Leddy to learn Métis beadwork and fingerweaving. During his time at the Banff Centre, he will use musical composition as a vehicle to explore his relationship with textile art.

Shea Iles is generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Leo Brouwer Endowment.

Nicole Stonyk is a Red River Métis born and raised in Wînipêk (Winnipeg), Manitowapow (Manitoba) located in the heart of Treaty 1 Territory. She is the daughter of a 60’s scoop survivor and comes from the Demeria of Lac du Bonnet/White Mud, Manitoba. She also belongs to the Marchand’s and acknowledges her Polish/Ukrainian family. Stonyk is a classically trained pianist who began training with the Russian School of Music and later the Royal Conservatory of Music, Performers ARCT level. She is a University of Manitoba Alumni and holds a Bachelor of Music from the Desautel Faculty of Music, Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies, a Master’s degree in Indigenous Studies, and is currently a Doctoral student in the Department of Indigenous Studies. Her research culminates her training as a classical pianist and Indigenous scholar in the field of Indigenous Studies to focus on “decolonizing” Western musical performance practices within themes of possessive logics, Indigenous relationality, language and aesthetics. Her most recent engagement was involvement with the November 2023 performance premiere of Indigenous opera Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North as cultural attaché to Dr. Suzanne Steele (librettist), Manitoba Opera Indigenous advisory consultant, and chorus performer. 

Nicole Stonyk is generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Boris Roubakine Memorial Endowment.

Originally from Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario, Rebecca is a mezzo-soprano of Anishinaabe First Nations with Irish, English, and German heritage who is a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Music Honours Performance degree at Western University, studying under the tutelage of Dr. Margie Bernal. She has been a featured soloist for Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy, Opera at Western’s Opera and Musical Theatre Gala and has studied and performed the roles of Tisbe in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, the Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel, Lady Angela in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, and Cesare in Handel’s Giulio Cesare. This coming fall, Rebecca is happy to announce she will start the Master of Music in Literature and Performance program at Western University. Rebecca is excited to take part in this year’s Classical Indigenous Music Residency at the  Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and would like to thank her family and community for their encouragement and support.

Rebecca Crane was generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Jenny Belzberg Endowment .

Breana H. McCullough is a Karuk violist, activist, and musicologist. She began a masters degree in Historical Performance on Baroque viola at Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music but has since moved towards a doctoral degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Their research focuses on Indigenous representation in Early Music; as well as, topics in the re-Matriation of Karuk relatives captive in various archives across the United States. She primarily challenges these archives in the development of relationships and the implementation of protocols that support Tribal, family, and community data sovereignty. McCullough spends significant time outside of the Western music world learning language and creating songs with her Master speaker language teacher and Karuk composing mentor, Crystal Richardson. She also wants to recognize and thank Susan Gehr who has supported her work in language and cultural education. She is also a teaching artist with the Heartbeat Music Project bringing music education through cultural empowerment to young people on the Diné (Navajo) Reservation. It brings her significant joy to invest and elevate young people pursuing their passion through cultural empowerment in musical expression.

Breana H. McCullough was generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Repsol Emerging Artists Award.

Raised in the community of St. Theresa Point, his journey into the realm of music began with the echoes of melodies resonating through his home. Surrounded by siblings who shared a profound passion for music, he was immersed in its captivating allure from a tender age.

As the years unfolded, his musical odyssey led through a kaleidoscope of genres, from the raw energy of rock to the pulsating beats of electronic music. In 2012, a pivotal moment of artistic clarity struck him, prompting the fusion of these diverse influences into a unique sonic tapestry that would come to define his sound.

Central to his creative process is the meticulous manipulation of samples recorded in St. Theresa Point. Each fragment is carefully curated and arranged to form intricate rhythmic structures and textures with an array of tools ranging from tape machines to eurorack modules. 

Harnessing the rich cultural tapestry of his hometown, he embarked on a creative exploration, crafting electro-acoustic compositions that resonated with the spirit of St. Theresa Point. Each composition serves as a testament to his dedication to sonic exploration. From the heart of St. Theresa Point to the far reaches of musical expression, his journey is a symphony of discovery.

Kerey Harper is generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Isobel and Tom Rolston Fellowships in Music Endowment.