Magical evening of building bridges through music

The successful collaboration between the Cochrane Music Society and two Indigenous artists has opened the door to possibly even more music projects. 

Jane Kaczmer of the Music Society, says they received a passionate response from the large crowd to their multicultural spring showcase last weekend. The emphasis was on reconciliation and building bridges through music.

"Yes, we were very happy," says Kaczmer. "We had an enthusiastic audience, and it was well-received. People were thrilled and interestingly, I think we had a fair number of new people at this concert that we'd not seen before."

Gina Inespot and Kyle Snow performed with both the concert band and choir and did a solo performance of "I'll Be Your Candle."

It included a guest appearance by Kyle Snow and Gina Onespot in the performances of two compositions, Cardinal Elements, and Mother Earth. They also performed with the Coral Waves.

Jazz vocalist Leanne DeCoteau.

The selection of New York jazz numbers presented by Riverside Jazz included a performance of "All That Jazz" by Jazz vocalist Leanne DeCoteau.

Among the Choral Waves selections was a performance of Oy Khodyt Son, a traditional Ukrainian lullaby that is typically translated into English as "The Dream Passes by the Windows." Barb Earle provided an orator of the lullaby during the performance.

Later on, choir director Diago Bechthold read the powerful lyrics for “Gimikwenden'na” (from the musical Children of God) which is about the residential school experience.

"We were all almost in tears knowing what the words were as they sang," says Kaczmer. "So powerful!"

An unscheduled solo performance of "I'll Be Your Candle" by Snow and Onespot was added.

"You know Adam (band director)," says Kaczmer. "He'll just run with what feels good and is working, right? He's very, very much on the spot, a quick thinker. It was just the two of them, and it was just lovely, a real hit."

She says the music society is excited about a potential collaboration.

"We do want to continue with Kyle, and he's very excited to continue to work with our society to do our own composition."

You can view the performance here.

Upcoming events include an appearance of the Band on the Bow and Riverside Jazz at The Blow Out in Canmore on May 27 and a performance by Choral Waves at Cochrane's Canada Day celebration.