Soundstreams Canada Brings Groundbreaking

Cree Opera to Northern Ontario

Spring 2010  tour school workshop & performance tour of

Tomson Highway and Melissa Hui’s

Pimooteewin: The Journey 

Lawrence Cherney, Artistic Director of Soundstreams announced today the Northwestern Ontario tour of  Pimooteewin: The Journey – the first opera ever written and sung in Cree. The Soundstreams’ Educational Team just returned to Toronto after three weeks visitng 16 schools in 9 communities and offering 183 workshops to 3,601 students. Performances of the opera will be offered in those 9 communities April 22-May 7.

Cities on the Tour:    

Pimooteewin: The Journey features a libretto by internationally celebrated author Tomson Highway, and music by award-winning Canadian composer Melissa Hui. Renowned Cree actor, choreographer and dancer Michael Greyeyes returns to choreograph and direct the cast of over 20 performers including The Elmer Iseler Singers, original soloists Xin Wang (soprano), and Bud Roach (tenor) and a virtuoso ensemble of Canadian musicians, actors, and dancers.  

“Pimooteewin: The Journey is culturally provocative and profoundly Canadian” says Soundstreams Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney. “The story is by a Cree writer inspired by Aboriginal myth; the music was created by a Chinese-Canadian composer and is sung in the Cree language by a cast drawn from diverse heritages; and the Cree stage director has drawn upon Aboriginal and Japanese traditions. It is a true reflection of Canadian culture and society in 2009. Pimooteewin celebrates universal themes of life and death and weaves together music and ideas from globally diverse genres, artists and traditions. Soundstreams is proud to have commissioned, developed and produced this work for Canadian and international audiences. Such a work could only have been created in Canada!” 

In February of 2008 Soundstreams Canada broke new creative ground with the World Premiere of Pimooteewin: The Journey which as recorded by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Pimooteewin: The Journey on Tour 

The Story of Pimooteewin: The Journey

The opera follows two characters traditional to Aboriginal mythology - the Trickster (Weesageechak) and the Eagle (Migisoo) - as they journey across a river to the magic island where, lit by the moon, the Spirits of the Dead perform a nocturnal dance. The Trickster and his companion capture the spirits in a basket.  As the duo make their triumphant way home, the Spirits make their escape. Pimooteewin: The Journey tackles the sensitive subjects of life and death with the profound wisdom and humour typical of Tomson Highway’s writing.  

Highway says of the Trickster, “The Trickster is a clown, the world’s most hysterical, most ridiculous, given to the people by the Great Spirit, to teach us the pivotal lesson that the reason for existence on the planet is not to suffer, not to wallow in guilt but to enjoy life, to take pleasure in the simple act of living.” 

“Trickster serves a tremendous role through our Aboriginal culture because through his mischief, joy and machinations he teaches us humanity about ourselves.” - Michael Greyeyes, director 

Highway chose to tell the story of the Trickster and the Eagle’s journey to the land of the dead as a way of dealing with the personal loss in his immediate family. The writer/musician explains that Pimooteewin: The Journey explores the idea of death in the context of aboriginal belief that passing is not an end, but a continuation of life in a different form. A classically trained pianist, Thomson believes that language itself is an instrument. He and composer Melissa Hui were commissioned to create The Journey by Soundstreams’ Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney after sitting on a panel to discuss cross-cultural collaborations. 

“What I loved was the universality of the myth and characters.” Says Melissa Hui “This story about death and longing for our loved ones transcends culture and time.”  

Pimooteewin: The Journey is a story told simply and concisely. Sets are minimal, and costumes streamlined and bold. Director Michael Greyeyes cleverly incorporates conventions from traditional Japanese theatre, a cross-cultural nod to the universal similarities in the story-telling tradition. Kurokos are essential members of the cast in Kabuki theatre. Dressed entirely in black, their role is to move pieces of the set, often animating these pieces to represent weather, seasons, landscapes, animals, ethereal creatures, and elemental entities. In Pimooteewin, it is dancers who take on the Kurokos roles enhancing the story-telling with movement and puppetry.  

 

    

The Chawkers Foundation  |  The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation

The tour of Pimooteewin: The Journey is made possible with the support of The Ontario Trillium Foundation, The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, and the TD Foundation. Thank you to our media sponsor Moose FM in Timmins, Ontario, the Days Inn Timmins, and Ontario Northland. 

About Soundstreams

Soundstreams is a hub for new directions in music, programming culturally provocative concerts and festivals by weaving together music and ideas from globally diverse genres, artists and eras.  Founded by renowned oboist Lawrence Cherney in 1982, Soundstreams has presented hundreds of unique and compelling concerts, from intimate chamber music events to multi-choral spectaculars, opera and six highly successful international festivals. A recognized national leader, Soundstreams Canada is one of the largest and most dynamic organizations of its kind anywhere in the world. 

In Acknowledgement

Soundstreams Canada gratefully acknowledges the support of The Ontario Trillium Foundation, The Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, TD Canada Trust Music, The Chawkers Foundation, The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, Opera.ca, Ontario Power Generation, Classical 96.3 FM, NOW Magazine, Coach Canada, Heinsoo Insurance Brokers, the Laidlaw Foundation, the Metcalf Foundation, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Toronto Arts Council, SOCAN Foundation, the Creative Trust, the Koerner Foundation, the John D. McKellar Foundation, Roger D. Moore, the Charles H. Ivey Foundation, the Fleck Family Foundation, The Ontario Arts Foundation, the McLean Foundation and members of the Soundstreams’ Premiere Circle for their generous support.

-30-

For more information please contact:

Maureen O’Donnell

Communications Consultant

maureensodonnell@gmail.com

416-929-1106

Allison McColl
Soundstreams Canada Marketing and Public Relations Manager
amccoll@soundstreams.ca
416-504-1282

---