Reconciliation through music: Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra hosts 1st Indigenous concert

For the first time in northwestern Ontario the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO) is shining a spotlight on a group of Indigenous performers for two very special concerts.

On Monday April 9, musicians like Shy-Anne Hovorka, Don Amero and the Lake Superior Women Drummers will be performing at the Fort William First Nation community recreation centre. A second concert will be held on April 10 at the Da Vinci Centre in Thunder Bay. 

"Music is a universal thing and everybody can understand something through music," singer and songwriter Shy-Anne Hovorka said.

A musician and a board member at the orchestra, Hovorka said the original idea of having an indigenous-themed show came about during a board meeting discussion. 

"I think their main goal is to help build relationships in the city and start partnering with the Indigenous community [to] hopefully build some new audiences ... but also learn about Indigenous culture and music through partnering with the Indigenous musicians," Hovorka explained.

Learning to reconcile through music 

With a drumming session to open and close the concert, the first Indigenous themed symphony will also have an elder on stage to explain how and why music is an important part of the First Nation culture.

"In the first part of the program, she will be talking a little bit about the drum and the significance of the drum," Hovorka continued, "and then in the second half we will be touching on music and reconciliation and how music can be a part of healing and understanding." 

She said she wanted to continue the theme of reconciliation by writing a one-of-a-kind song to perform with the students from the GOP Elementary Choir. 

She wanted to write a song about young Indigenous students who died while living in Thunder Bay, Hovorka said, "[and] it's only the river and the children that know what actually happened, so the song itself is more of like a connection between the river and these ... youths and the mothers that are still crying for them."

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Monday's concert at the Fort William First Nation community recreation centre is free for the public, however tickets for Tuesday's concert at the Da Vinci Centre can be found at the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra website.