With the creative contributions of local artists from each community visited, the concert was given in each of the languages spoken in the areas visited. Florent Vollant, Akinisie Sivuarapik, and Ernest Webb took turns narrating the opera—in Innu, Inuktitut, and Cree respectively—while Geoffroy Salvas (baritone) and Owen McCausland (tenor) performed their roles in Cree. The opera’s libretto was written by Tomson Highway with an orchestral score by Matthew Ricketts, and the production was staged by Charles Dauphinais. CHAAKAPESH, THE TRICKSTER’S QUEST is inspired by an Innu legend that teaches us that we are here on Earth to laugh and to live in harmony with our planet.
Nunavik and Northern Quebec Tour
Montreal, September 20, 2018 — The OSM and Kent Nagano just returned today from an eleven-day tour of Northern Quebec. Ten years after travelling to Nunavik to perform Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale in Inuktitut, the Orchestra and its conductor headed northward once again to perform CHAAKAPESH, THE TRICKSTER’S QUEST for audiences in six different Indigenous communities. Capacity audiences filled each concert venue, children and adults alike, while rewarding educational and community activities added to these inspiring and inspired encounters. The OSM’s excursion to Nunavik and Quebec’s Far North was filled with special moments of exchange and sharing.
Marking a successful collaboration between Indigenous artists and the OSM, CHAAKAPESH, THE TRICKSTER’S QUEST, a collaboration between composer Matthew Ricketts and author Tomson Highway, met with hearty applause at its world premiere at the Maison symphonique on the OSM’s 85th season opening concerts in Montreal on September 6 and 8. The OSM and Kent Nagano then took the work on tour to KUUJJUAQ, SALLUIT, KUUJJUARAPIK, OUJÉ-BOUGOUMOU, MASHTEUIATSH, and UASHAT MAK MANI-UTENAM from September 9 to 19, performing the tragicomic chamber opera for audiences of three Indigenous nations: Inuit, Innu, and Cree.
OSM in Nunavik and Northern Quebec Tour - Episode 1 : Kuujjuaq, Nunavik
Artists and program :
Artists
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Kent Nagano, conductor
Geoffroy Salvas, baritone
Owen McCausland, tenor
Florent Vollant, narrator in the Innu language
Akinisie Sivuarapik, narrator in the Inuktitut language
Ernest Webb, narrator in Cree for Oujé-Bougoumou
Charles Dauphinais, director
OSM in Nunavik and Northern Québec - Episode 2 : Salluit, Nunavik
Photo : Jean-Marc Abela
More than a concert tour: Eleven days of sharing and dialogue
Building on the idea of music as a medium to communicate between cultures, languages and borders, this emotion-filled tour was more than just a series of performances for OSM musicians and Maestro Kent Nagano. It was the opportunity to meet and to share, to listen and to learn. The musicians reached out and were warmly welcomed by the public, local creators, numerous students and community leaders. One after the other, unforgettable moments unfolded. Here is a summary of this wonder-filled northern journey…
For the very first performance of CHAAKAPESH, THE TRICKSTER’S QUEST in KUUJJUAQ on September 10, the community’s newly built church was filled to absolute capacity with over 400 audience members of all ages. Earlier in the day, OSM musicians and conductor met with 300 enthusiastic students as they took part in educational activities, followed by a group activity with some 30 teenagers. When André Moisan improvised on clarinet while Maestro Nagano recounted a Japanese fable illustrating the power of storytelling through music, one could literally hear a pin drop!
OSM in Nunavik and Northern Québec - Épisode 3 : Kuujjuarapik, Nunavik
The tour continued to SALLUIT on September 12, and it was with the utmost enthusiasm and with open arms that schoolchildren welcomed the musicians to their community. Each child had crafted a conductor’s baton with their teacher, and one barely 5-year-old youngster got up on stage to conduct the musicians! As was the case for all the communities visited on the tour, conductor and musicians lent themselves to the obligatory autographs and selfies after the concert!
The September 14th concert in KUUJJUARAPIK – a unique community where Cree and Innu cultures meet – was also a sell-out, in a magnificent new cultural center. The orchestra was joined by two special guests: Inuit throat singer Linda Kowcharlie and Cree fiddler Eric Shashamash.
In OUJÉ-BOUGOUMOU on September 17, a violent storm plunged the hall into darkness. Fortunately, the whole community responded quickly with auxiliary generators and flashlights! The concert, featuring young local cellist Kelly Cooper and narrator Ernest Webb, thus took place in semi-darkness, but was all the more fabulous in this intimate, unexpected atmosphere…
In MASHTEUIATSH, on September 18, Florent Vollant was the narrator in his own language, Innu. Florent Vollant repeated the experience the following day, in his home community of UASHAT MAK MANI-UTENAM, where a warm welcome awaited him.
Osm in Nunavik and Northern Québec - Episode 4 : Oujé-Bougoumou, Northern Québec
OSM in Nunavik and Northern Québec - Episode 5 : Recap
