The Lisgar Collegiate Institute Flute and String Ensemble recently debuted an original composition, “Beauty and Grace,” co-created with award-winning Indigenous recording artist David Finkle. Hailing from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in southern Ontario, David is a multi-instrumental musician, sound engineer, Traditional Knowledge Keeper, storyteller, drum maker, and producer.
With the support of the OCDSB’s Innovation and Adolescent Learning department, grade 9-12 students in repertoire courses at Lisgar had the opportunity to meet with David several times over the course of the semester to bring this new composition to life.
“Beauty and Grace” is inspired by the land and features the sounds of insects, birds, and other natural elements. It includes a traditional Indigenous woodland flute combined with contemporary classical flutes, and an elk-skin-frame drum rhythm that represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth.
David taught students how to play Indigenous rattle, hand drum, and shakers and shared about the origins of Indigenous musical instruments. Students learned about the creative process of composing music and contributed their ideas on orchestration. David and music teacher Ms. Sommers collaborated to transcribe the music for the ensemble, which students proudly performed together with David at the Lisgar Music Night in May:
According to Ms. Sommers, music is “90% connection,” making it a valuable tool for students to collaborate with one another and with community partners:
“Connecting with David Finkle and learning about and sharing Indigenous Knowledge gave students a more genuine understanding of Indigenous music. Students gained so much by not only listening to the music by David, but by making music with him. In the OCDSB, we are committed to supporting Indigenous artists, musicians, and learning about Indigenous knowledge with partners like David through music and the arts in our schools.” – Ms. Sommers, Music and Fine Arts Teacher
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David shared his reflections on this collaborative project:
“Working with the youth at Lisgar under the encouraging (and very open) stewardship of Lani Sommers started out as a simple collaboration. But in my opinion, it developed into so much more than that. It became a legacy piece…firmly rooted in mutual respect and cultural understanding. I strongly believe we have quite organically and very naturally created a template here for future similar collaborations towards the device of ultimately building bridges, initiating lasting friendships…all while creating unique, quality art.” – David Finkle, Musician
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