Online
Jonathon Adams; Marion Newman; Reneltta Arluk; Dylan Robinson
June is Indigenous Heritage Month and as part of Jonathon Adams’ summer residency, EMV will be hosting a panel discussion with four Indigenous leaders in the arts: mezzo-soprano Marion Newman, writer and academic Dylan Robinson, multi-disciplinary artist and theatre founder Reneltta Arluk, and baritone Jonathon Adams.
Continuum: A conversation on historical musics & Indigenous resurgence is produced by Jonathon and will address Canadian historical erasure of Indigenous peoples, white supremacy, Indigenous cultural resurgence, and the contemporary performance of historical musics and theatre in an Indigenous mode.
The discussion will last for approximately 90 minutes with an additional 15 minutes for Q & A.
In lieu of purchasing tickets, we ask that attendees consider donating to an Indigenous organization instead such as the Indian Residential School Survivors Society or the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society.
Jonathon Adams
EMV’s 2021 Artist-in-Residence, Jonathan Adams was born in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, Canada). Jonathan is a Two-Spirit, nêhiyaw michif (Cree-Métis) baritone and performance artist. In concert, they have appeared as a soloist with Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald Kuijken, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Václav Luks, Ensemble BachPlus, Vox Luminis, il Gardellino, and B’Rock Orchestra at Opera-Ballet Flanders. Jonathon is a featured soloist in the film MESSIAH / COMPLEX produced by Against the Grain Theatre and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (2020). Jonathon was a fellow of the Netherland Bach Society in 2020 and performs regularly with Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. Future solo engagements include recording and concerts with il Gardellino, concerts with Servir Antico, Les Voix Humaines, Ensemble Caprice, L’Orchestre Baroque Arion, Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, L’Harmonie des Saisons, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra amongst others.
Thanks to a long term ‘Creating, Knowing and Sharing’ grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, 2021 witnessed the world premiere of Adams’ performance piece nipahimiw / the plaint with collaborators Christi Belcourt, Reneltta Arluk, Evan Ducharme, Susie Napper and Catalina Vicens. nipahimiw / the plaint is slate for presentation at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Vancouver’s UBC First Nations Longhouse, Montreal’s McCord Museum, Quamajuq Inuit Art Museum (Winnipeg) and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
Marion Newman
Kwagiulth and Stó:lō, English, Irish, Scottish mezzo-soprano Marion Newman (she/her) “sings with rich, opulent tone, and her delivery pulses with the multiple meanings of her duplicitous existence.” (Opera News) Roles she has been acclaimed for include Rosina in The Barber of Seville and Carmen, Dr. Wilson in Missing and she was nominated for a Dora Award in the title role of Shanawdithit. Marion’s discography includes The Lesson of Da Ji, with Marion in the title role. Released in 2016, this disc won Critics Choice in Opera News. Other recordings include five discs with the Aradia Ensemble for Naxos: Polly by Samuel Arnold, Sacred Music by Vivaldi, and Griselda, also by Vivaldi, Handel’s Rinaldo and Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit pour Noel and Te Deum.
Marion has been a member of the Indigenous Advisory Council of the Regina Symphony since its inception and sits on the advisory board of the Canadian Music Centre of BC, the Association for Opera in Canada and is part of the Circle of Indigenous Artists for the Canadian Opera Company. During the pandemic Marion has been working on rising to the expectations of her talented and respected colleagues who continue to give her opportunities to share her voice as a speaker, teacher, facilitator and dramaturge at universities, opera companies, arts organizations and as a Co-Founder of Amplified Opera. Upcoming appearances include Migrations in her debut with the Welsh National Opera and as guest curator for The Chan Centre UBC, 21/22 season.
Reneltta Arluk
Reneltta is an Inuvialuit, Dene and Cree mom from the Northwest Territories. She is founder of Akpik Theatre, a northern focused professional Indigenous Theatre company. Raised by her grandparents on the trap-line until school age, this nomadic environment gave Reneltta the skills to become the multi-disciplined artist she is now. For nearly two decades, Reneltta has taken part in or initiated the creation of Indigenous Theatre across Canada and overseas. Under Akpik Theatre, Reneltta has written, produced, and performed various works creating space for Indigenous led voice. Current works include Pawâkan Macbeth, a Plains Cree takeover of Macbeth written by Arluk on Treaty 6 territory. Pawâkan Macbeth was inspired by working with youth and elders on the Frog Lake reserve. Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program and Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to direct at The Stratford Festival. There she was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie - Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director's Award for her direction of the The Breathing Hole. Reneltta is Director of Indigenous Arts at BANFF Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Dylan Robinson
Dylan Robinson is a xwélmexw (Stó:lō/Skwah) artist and writer. He is also an Associate Professor at Queen’s University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts. His recent book, Hungry Listening (University of Minnesota Press, 2020) examines Indigenous and settler colonial forms of listening. His current research focuses on the material and sonic life of Indigenous ancestors held by museums, and reparative artistic practices that address these ancestors incarceration in museums. Other publications include the co-edited collection Music and Modernity Among First Peoples of North America (Wesleyan University Press, 2019) which received both the American Musicological Society’s Ruth Solie Award for best collection and the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Ellen Koskoff Prize for edited collections.