This Thursday, April 20, 2017, celebrated experimental vocalist and artist Tanya Tagaq will provide a keynote address at the Canadian Music Week (CMW) Global Forum Networking Breakfast. This year’s Global Forum shines the spotlight on Indigenous musicians and those using music to bring attention to issued faced by Indigenous communities in Canada. Music’s ability to connect people, heal communities and bridge historic divides will be the focus of discussion.
Following her keynote, the JUNO and Polaris Prize-winning artist will join a panel discussion that will also include:
- John Kim Bell – Moderator | Musician, Conductor, Officer of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario
- Susan Aglukark | JUNO Award-winning recording artist, educator, Officer of the Order of Canada and recipient of The Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts
- Bear Witness | JUNO and Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Award-winning recording artist from A Tribe Called Red
- Mike Downie | Producer, Director, and co-founder of the Gord Downie – Chanie Wenjack Fund, as well as co-creator and co-producer of the Secret Path project
Sponsored by Music Canada for more than a decade, the Global Forum is an invite-only event that brings Canadian and international music professionals together. In recent years, the Global Forum has celebrated and recognized individuals and organizations in the music community who are using music to make the world a better place.
Last year’s Global Forum featured a keynote by Laura Hassler, Founder and Director of Musicians without Borders, whose terrific presentation covered the topic “War Divides, Music Connects: Using Rock for Reconciliation.” This year’s Global Forum, titled “The Power of Music: Indigenous Artists Discuss Music’s Ability to Unite, Inspire, and Heal,” follows a similar theme of music’s power to connect, with a focus on bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada together following decades of historic mistreatment.
The Global Forum will open with a performance by Winnipeg-bred Hamilton-based singer-songwriter IsKwé.
Music Canada