The Haydn Hideaway

Yes, this blog title is definitely a play on Jerry Seinfeld's show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee". This week is the Brandon University Indigenous New Music Festival. The festival brings in Indigenous composers from across the country to perform and work with the New Music Ensemble (BUNME). Because of my weekly travels to Winnipeg, I was asked to pick up one of our guests from the airport, Cris Derksen . Cris Derksen is Juno-nominated cellist and composer from NorthTall Cree Reserve in northern Alberta. She is of Cree and Mennonite heritage. She combines her classical training, Indigenous background, and electronic effects to create new sounds and share new perspectives. She has performed and collaborated with other notable artists including Tanya Tagaq, Buffy St. Marie, Kanye West, and A Tribe Called Red. Derksen completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of British Columbia where she played principal cello in the UBC Symphony Orchestra. The ...

Last Thursday, January 30th, the Brandon University New Music Ensemble had the opportunity to travel to Winnipeg and perform in the Millennium Library Skywalk Concert series as part of the Winnipeg New Music Festival. It was a great day filled with learning and experiences that I wanted to share. We first set up our stage in the Carol Shield auditorium in the Millennium Library. Thankfully, this library has a large underground parkade, because we all know how terrible it is to find street parking in downtown spaces! It made it much easier for us to unload all of our gear. BUNME, after (finally) finishing set up Immediately after finishing set up at the Millennium Library, we had to quickly get to the Centennial Concert Hall, a few blocks away, to watch the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra rehearse for their concert the following evening. They were preparing for their show called "Metropolis Symphony" which featured Michael Daugherty's work based on the world of Superh...