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On April 12, the Chan Centre will host a celebration of Arctic sounds and Inuit artistry featuring legendary singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark and acclaimed throat-singing duo PIQSIQ.
Susan Aglukark is a Canadian icon and the first Inuk artist ever to win a Juno Award. Her seminal 1995 album This Child, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, went triple platinum in Canada, aided by the runaway hit “O Siem.” Aglukark has since gone on to write and record 10 albums, author two children’s books, earn a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement, and become an officer of the Order of Canada.
More importantly, This Child provided her with a platform to speak up, learn, heal and share, which has been her ultimate calling. Her passionate advocacy propelled her to found the Arctic Rose Project, which gives Inuit and northern Indigenous youth a safe after-school space, and she is the co-founder of the Aboriginal Literacy Project.
Inuit throat-singing sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik blend tradition with natural and technological inspiration. Using only their vocals and live looping techniques, the duo perform katajjaq, Inuit throat singing, to create soundscapes that evoke the haunting darkness of perennial Arctic winters.
In Inuktitut, piqsiq is a windstorm that conjures the impression of snow falling back up towards the sky. This phenomenon has coloured their “riveting... and truly haunting” (Vancouver Sun) music, while pushing the tradition of Inuit throat singing forward as a living art. While katajjaq was once outlawed and almost extinct, PIQSIQ are reclaiming their culture with every spellbinding performance. They are nominated for Global Music Album of the Year at this year’s Junos for their album Legends.
Susan Aglukark and PIQSIQ will perform April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Chan Centre’s website. ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
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