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The Winnipeg Arts Council continues its City of Song celebrations this weekend with a unique collaboration of words and music between the city’s classical music community and one of its most celebrated rock stars.
Sing Me a Song You’ve (Never) Heard Before takes the stage at the West End Cultural Centre on November 16, and part of the concert will be a new song cycle called Too Far to Walk. Composed by Karen Sunabacka, the work features the poetry of John K. Samson, member of The Weakerthans and Propagandhi.
It’s a collaboration that pianist Lisa Rumpel has been pursuing for many years. “I’ve always been a big fan of The Weakerthans, and I always thought that it would be great to make them into art songs because I do only classical music,” she told Morning Light host Nolan Kehler in a conversation in the Classic 107 studios.
One moment that crystallized this inspiration for Rumpel was a day in the middle of winter standing on the side of the Abinojii Mikanah, listening to The Weakerthans, and looking out at the prairie desolation of winter. “I was just like, ‘Oh man, this is real. This is so real to me right now.’ And I wish that this could be in a song because doing art songs, you always do poetry from like mainly from different places and in their poems, they're often evoking nature or images that people could relate to in that space. And I thought, ‘Wouldn't it be cool if we could have something that really made Winnipeg come alive in that way in a classical art song setting?’”
Tenor Aaron Hutton will be the one bringing the words to life in the debut performance of Too Far to Walk. Like Rumpel, he notes that this new setting of Samson’s poetry evokes Winnipeg’s distinctive nature. “When Lisa and I have been talking about these words, we’ve thought about how it connects to our experiences being in Winnipeg and in the prairies,” Hutton reflected.
“I think that when people hear these words and rehear this poetry from songs they're familiar with, they're going to have their own connection to this chilly city and whether it's a positive or otherwise interpretation, we all as Winnipeggers have connections to a thought or something being just a bit too far to walk to in the wintertime.”
“It’s not a pleasant image, necessarily,” Rumpel adds, “But it’s ours, you know. We can relate to it and we can feel it. I don’t know if I necessarily see it as positive or negative. You’re there and you’re in it, and it feels personal.”
Too Far to Walk is just one of the works that will be featured at Sing Me a Song You’ve (Never) Heard Before. Rumpel and Hutton will be joined by Winnipeg’s poet laureate Chimwemwe Undi, who was just awarded a Governor General’s Literary Award for her poetry collection Scientific Marvel. She'll perform in a unique collaboration with cellist Nathan Krahn. Theresa Thordarson rounds out the talent on the stage as she shares selections from her latest EP, Revery.
Sing Me a Song You’ve (Never) Heard Before takes place at the West End Cultural Center on November 16 at 8 p.m. For tickets and more information, you can visit the City of Song website.