Premiere performance of piece in collaboration with Nunatsiavut Inuk Artist and Activist Delilah Saunders.

Performed by:

Dylan Maddix, conductor
Anita Krause, mezzo-soprano
Anne Thompson, flute
Marie Johnson, clarinet
Erika Raum, violin
Adrian Wright, cello

Commissioned by Western University's School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and premiered during the school's International Week Canada 150 Art Installation and Music Premiere.

Text:
In prison, we were ten again.
I climbed onto her bunk while she put on her face.
A MacGyver beauty queen, trading in our sister' makeup for an old copy of the Globe and
Mail to add colour to her high cheekbones.
Another murdered Indigenous sister's story worn on her already worn-down face.
Vicious I entered her territory, she pulled my hair and laid into me.
I no longer saw my sister's face, but a system.
Possessing our women, men and children.
The sick, twisted wolf growled, "I'm here, I have you where I want you, you're still in my chains, you so-called warrior woman"
Foster homes chewed her up as a child, spit her out at 18, just to lick her back up.
I reminded her that she came from there.
"Look where you came from, my girl"
My home was her only save haven.
I reminded her that she came from there, too.
I reminded her that she may have been beaten into survival mode,
but she had that love within her too.
I reminded her how one arrow, when bent, will snap and break.
But together, the way we were in that moment, the same way we were when we were kids, we are strong, unbending, unbreaking.
One stalk of corn cannot withstand the elements, it cannot stand alone,
but corn in rows, side by side,
They weather storms together,
They move together,
allowing each other to grow.
Together we are strong, unbending, unbreaking.
-Delilah Saunders (2017)


Read more about Delilah's work, the piece and future collaborations here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/delilah-loretta-saunders-chamber-opera-andrew-noseworthy-mmiwg-1.4414857

One Stalk, One Arrow, No Stalk, No Arrow.

Andrew Noseworthy (he/him/his) is a multidisciplinary artist whose music reflects upon the acceptance/rejection of “locality,” while addressing ideas of post-regional spaces and questions of accessibility for the musical voices within them. His genre-fluid projects coalesce wide-ranging styles and distinct artistic practices, while building sustainable relationships through communal collaboration. Recent collaborators include The Metropolis Ensemble, The 21C Guitar Conference, Angie Moon Dance Theatre, Saman Shahi, India Gailey, Yang Chen, Tim Brady/Bradyworks, Phong Tran, Adam Cuthbért, SlowPitchSound, Greg Bruce, The St John’s International Sound Symposium, Bekah Simms, Tanea Hynes and Andrea Lodge. He is a member of the experimental hardcore duo this place is actually the worst (with Aeryn Jade Santillan), post-genre duo laydøwn (with Yaz Lancaster), Toronto-based contemporary ensemble ContaQt, and co-runs people | places | records.