Inuk opera singer Deantha Edmunds on the forgotten history of classical music among the Labrador Inuit
The newly-appointed member of the Order of Canada talks to Q’s Tom Power about her journey in music
Last month, Deantha Edmunds, Canada's first Inuk opera singer, was appointed to the Order of Canada — one of the nation's highest honours. Though Edmunds is certainly the first Inuk professional classical soprano, she says she's far from being the first Inuk to sing classical music.
"I am the first professional at this time, but Labrador Inuit were playing and singing classical music in Inuktitut for centuries," Edmunds tells Q's Tom Power in an interview.
"Early in my career, when I was a university student and I became recognized as the first Inuk classical singer in Canada, a lot of people asked, 'Oh my gosh, so you're an Inuit opera singer? What's Inuit opera?' And I would say, 'Well, no, I'm Inuk and this is the music that I sing.' And people would always kind of go, 'Hmm, oh.'"
About 15 years ago, Edmunds got in touch with Canadian musicologist Tom Gordon after learning about his research on the history of classical music in Labrador, which began with the arrival of Moravian missionaries to the region's north coast.
"Just over 250 years ago, [Moravian missionaries] brought these instruments with them," Edmunds explains. "They brought handwritten manuscripts of music by Mozart and Bach and Handel and Haydn and other composers. The music was translated into Inuttitut [a dialect of Inuktitut], and Labrador Inuit not only learned how to play and perform this music, over time, they transformed it into something that truly belongs to them."
Edmunds's interest in classical music, particularly sacred music, started when she was just a kid, but she says after learning that this music was also sung by her ancestors, it connected different parts of herself that she wasn't aware of.
"The reason I loved singing sacred music from a young age is because it feels [like] less of a performance," she says. "[It's] a prayer, an offering, an intention … The experience of singing sacred music in Inuktitut and knowing that this is an important part of music history and my ancestry, it is difficult to describe. I feel much more grounded. I feel like it's coming from a deeper place and I feel more peaceful when I'm singing it."
But Edmunds says it's also important to add that the Moravian missionaries who brought classical music to Labrador were also responsible for banning the Labrador Inuit's sacred traditions of throat singing and drum dancing.
"That is tragic," she says. "Thankfully, those traditions have been revived and celebrated. I have learned a little bit of throat singing myself — not good enough to perform it yet, I don't believe, but it's something I'm interested in. And, to me, the important part of this music history is that, yes, the Inuit learned this classical music, and they performed it in church and at community events, but they made it their own. They did something else with it. And that, to me, shows this beautiful, amazing agency."
The full interview with Deantha Edmunds is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Deantha Edmunds produced by Lise Hosein.
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