Winnipeg composer’s Carnegie dreams crumble after border snafu

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This article was published 14/03/2025 (574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last Wednesday was a day Andrew Balfour would rather forget.

The celebrated composer from Winnipeg, who lives in Toronto, was denied entry into the United States and detained for several hours before being escorted by armed guards onto a plane headed back to Canada.

Balfour, who’s artistic director of the Winnipeg-based Dead of Winter ensemble, had been scheduled to debut Saturday at Carnegie Hall in New York City. There, he would have conducted selections from his work Tapwe: Songs of Truth with the Amabile Choirs.

“I don’t think it was about being Indigenous,” the Cree musician said about the ordeal, explaining he made a mistake in prepping the necessary documentation for his stay in the U.S.

But he says it gave him a window into what he calls the “paranoid” state of American border control, which has become more vigilant, at airports and other border crossings, since U.S. President Donald Trump was re-elected in January.

“It’s not close to what that woman from B.C. endured, being incarcerated in Arizona,” said Balfour, in reference to Jasmine Mooney.

The Canadian woman was arrested and detained by U.S. immigration officials for more than 10 days after trying to enter the country.

“I felt like I was in a welfare office when I was young, waiting for like, ‘Please, tell me what my future is,’” Balfour said.

After pointing out the issue with his paperwork, officials took his passport and phone and placed him in a holding room at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. He said he spent more than four hours in the uncomfortable space, watching others argue their cases.

Eventually, an officer presented him with two options: he could remain in detention until an immigration judge could hear his case, which could take days, or he could board a flight to Toronto. Balfour chose the flight and was escorted to the gate by two armed U.S. customs officers.

“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.

Despite the experience, Balfour makes a point of acknowledging the decency of the young U.S. Customs officer handling his case.

“As he was fingerprinting me, finger by finger, he actually was apologizing,” he said. “When he found out I was a composer, I did hear him tell his supervisor to treat me OK.”

While he’s disappointed he won’t make his Carnegie debut as planned, the composer said he looks forward to shows in Toronto featuring his music that he otherwise would have missed.

“(Friday) and (Saturday), I’m doing a project with Tafelmusik,” says Balfour, referring to the Toronto-based period-instrument Baroque orchestras, widely considered one of the world’s best. “It’s a dream project.”

Next week, he’ll conduct students from the University of Toronto in a concert of early music.

“I actually felt very thankful when I landed in my bed on Wednesday night,” he said. “Thank God I’m back here.”

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca