The Lheidli T'enneh Drum Group injected some classical music into their sound Tuesday at CN Centre during the opening of the 37th annual B.C. Elders Gathering.
The drum group is comprised of six members of the Seymour family plus visual artist Jennifer Pighin and Juno Award-nominated singer/songwriter Marcel Gagnon. It was Gagnon who suggested the PGSO as a potential partner.
"We were so fortunate to have the PGSO in our community, and they did us quite an honour by agreeing to work with us," said group spokeswoman Deryl Seymour. "They brought new life into an old way of doing music."
There were nine instruments brought together by PGSO conductor Kevin Zakresky - three violins, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn - for the collaboration.
"I heard about the gathering just as most people did, but I remember thinking we don't do much in the summer, we want to support this major event, and what a great opportunity to do something new and important with our First Nation," Zakresky said.
David Duke of Vancouver Community College, and an acquaintance of Zakresky, took recorded versions of four traditional Lheidli T'enneh songs and transcribed them, adding orchestral flourishes.
"The singers and drummers are the stars. What we are doing is the orchestral version of 'doo-wops' in the background," said Duke, who came to Prince George to also play violin at the event.
"Combining like this is such a metaphor for British Columbia. We are all here, and we should learn to play together."
"It's the beginning of a new relationship," said Seymour, describing the symbolism she felt for the collaboration, and the world premiere of the four pieces at the elders gathering. "It is a new journey, it is about healing, deciding how we want to move forward, focus."
The four pieces - Bear Clan Song, Caribou Clan Song, Grouse Clan Song and Morris Kwah's Lament - will live on. An effort is underway to for the drum group to perform with the full Prince George symphony at Vanier Hall this fall and a possible annual collaboration between the two groups.
"It might become a tradition of its own," said Zakresky. "They [the drum group] are just so kind, so stoked, and our musicians were so delighted. Everyone has been having a really good time. I think it is going to be in people's memory for a long time."
The musicians on stage were Helen, Merle, Curtis, Nate, Samantha and Deryl Seymour, Jennifer Pighin, Marcel Gagnon of the Lheidli T'enneh Drum Group, joined by symphony players Anne Harris, David G. Duke, Indra Egan on violins, Sebastian Ostertag (cello), Ariane Nelles (flute), Erica Skowron (oboe), Simon Cole (clarinet), Lynn Giesbrecht (bassoon), Laszlo Klein (French horn) and Kevin Zakresky (conductor).
