Healing, hope, harmony in expansive WSO show

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This article was published 03/03/2024 (870 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra turned up the heat Saturday night when it presented the final offering in its Live at the WSO series, featuring the Sultans of String in collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists hailing from all across Turtle Island.

The two-hour (including intermission) multimedia program, skilfully led by assistant conductor Monica Chen, featured 16 works from the Toronto-based roots band’s latest album, Walking Through the Fire. The album was inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and Final Report asking for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to work together in harmony to create a path forward.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen type of thing done. However, violinist-vocalist Chris McKhool, who co-founded Sultans of String in 2004 with flamenco guitarist-vocalist Kevin Laliberté, shows clear respect for his Indigenous counterparts, adding a grace note of healing and hope to the first of two weekend shows held at the Burton Cummings Theatre, further fuelled by his infectious joy at bringing everyone together for his ambitious passion project.

A Beautiful Darkness, a song about “breaking the barriers that keep us apart” by Ojibwe guitarist-singer Marc Meriläinen, provided the first taste of McKhool’s ebullient fiddle solos, backed by his bandmates, bassist/vocalist Drew Birston and Laliberté, as well as guest artists including Meriläinen; Métis fiddler Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk; Coast Ts’msyen First Nations elder and singer-drummer Shannon Thunderbird; and Métis bassist-vocalist MJ Dandeneau, who also plays a mean set of spoons.

The Winnipeg-born, Toronto-based Delbaere-Sawchuk next treated us to Chanson de Riel, her throaty vocals giving voice to a poignant letter penned by Louis Riel, Manitoba’s newly designated first premier, written in his own blood to his beloved mother while awaiting his execution in 1885. This led immediately to an early highlight, the toe-tapping Tkaronto Reel, co-written with her brother Nicholas.

Dr. Duke Redbird’s The Power of the Land and Our Mother the Earth stirred the soul; the 85-year old Chippewa/Anishinaabe elder/poet/journalist recited his own text virtually on a large upstage screen, accompanied by video projections of sweeping lakes and mountains, while the musicians provided lush underpinning.

Thunderbird often stole the show with her naturally dignified presence, quick wit and gracious bearing; her singing and hand-drum playing lent the program additional gravitas.

Quipping “I need a five-minute head start” after McKhool gently guided her back to centre stage following intermission, she then delivered an impassioned speech about the dark legacy of Canada’s residential school system, saying, “I do not believe the sins of the father are revisited on the children,” before telling the Indigenous members of the audience directly: “You are stronger than despair; you are braver than grief.”

One could hear the proverbial pin drop during her haunting solo Lost and Found, chronicling the discovery of Indigenous children’s graves at residential schools; its refrain of “a small voice whispers, ‘you found us’” was deeply moving.

Meriläinen introduced another selection, Take Off the Crown, with a simple, “I’m going to let the words speak for themselves” (well, most of them — an F-bomb in the song’s chorus was neatly whitewashed out for the family-friendly show). As he growled through the lyrics, one could not help but recall the toppling of statues on the grounds of our very own Manitoba Legislative Building on July 1, 2021.

Everyone loves a good kitchen party, and shortly before intermission, the crowd was treated to a white-hot medley called, er, Kitchen Party, which ramped up the joy in what was at times an overly homogeneous, earnest program.

More pieces showcasing Indigenous languages — such as Northern Cree dance Nimihito, Ko, performed virtually by Dene artists Leela Gilday and Leanne Taneton, or the gorgeous Quviasuliqpunga, a song welcoming spring performed virtually in North Baffin Island by Inuit artists Kendra Tagoona and Tracy Sarazin — would have made this an even stronger show by providing greater texture and variety.

Humma was performed once again by Tagoona and Sarazin, and any program that includes Inuit throat singing brings its own special magic. So did hearing the powerful voices and drumming in the virtual performance by the Northern Cree Pow-Wow group soaring over the traditionally Euro-centric symphony orchestra, a true blend of cultures speaking the lingua franca of music.

As expected, the mixed crowd leapt to its feet at the end, leading to an encore of Black Winged Raven, its repeated chant performed a cappella, fading like embers in a smouldering fire.

holly.harris@shaw.ca