It was National Indigenous People’s Day so what better way to celebrate/commemorate than go listen to an Indigenous artist perform in the music garden ; where the trees almost stand in the water.
We got an hour of music from Inuk soprano Deantha Edmunds; mostly from her CD Connections. These songs are reflections; some in English, some in Inuktitut, on aspects of life as an Indigenous person in contemporary society and sit somewhere between art song and singer/songwriter territory. Subject matter ranges from traditional Indigenous children’s games , to the Northern landscape, to the spirits of Rain and Thunder and, inevitably and very, very sadly to Residential Schools and Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Two Spirited People. They are varied, skilful and heartfelt. Continue reading
The season finale for the Music Garden this summer was a performance of Alec Roth’s Songs in Times of War. These are settings of poems by Du Fu translated by Vikram Seth. Du Fu was a Chinese court poet who lived through times (8th century CE) when millions died or were displaced by rebellion and civil war. Although more allusive than direct (most of the time), the poems are grim but have an elusive beauty which is reflected in Roth’s setting. Originally scored for tenor, guitar, harp and violin we got to hear a new version (by the composer) with violin replaced by 
operaramblings 