NOTINIKEW

A moving musical work by an essential Indigenous composer.

One of the great Indigenous voices! The music of Andrew Balfour, a composer of Cree origin, is at the heart of this concert, which takes us on a moving spiritual journey. His choral works invite us to commune, as in Vision Chant, inspired by an Indigenous singing style that reaches the heights of tranquility and intensity. The powerful lament of Notinikew, an anti-war mini-opera, forcefully echoes the words and woes of a community and destiny too rarely heard about.

Notinikew tells the story of indigenous soldiers who fought for Canada in the First World War and were denied the right to return home.

“… a tragedy that speaks about all wars and all indigenous soldiers.” - Andrew Balfour