Unity of movement, sound
Symphony and Public Energy team up for outdoor shows, part of Canada 150 celebrations
It’s a first – the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra is teaming up with Public Energy. It happens June 29 at two downtown outdoor venues as the two longstanding arts organizations present Between the Water and the Sky, a live performance featuring the PSO String Quartet, Unity Indigenous vocal ensemble, and performer Jade Willoughby.
The performances happen at 1 p.m. at Millennium Park and at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. in front of City Hall.
Between the Water and the Sky, a part of the DBIA Canada 150 Downtown Celebrations, is a dynamic collaboration between art forms, featuring The Medicine Song and Ghost Dancer by local Indigenous vocal ensemble Unity with an embodied movement response to sound by Indigenous dancer and performer Jade Willoughby.
Unity is a four-woman a cappella group formed in Peterborough in 2006 by Barb Rivett, Joeann Argue, Brenda Maracle-O’Toole and Heather Shpuniarsky. Since its inception, Unity has performed at a wide variety of venues. Each year they perform the Honour Song for the convocations at Trent University. They have also performed in this capacity at York University in Toronto, for Robbie Robertson’s receipt of an honorary doctorate, and at Fleming College in Peterborough. They performed as special guests for the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Legal Defense Fund, sharing the bill with Bruce Cockburn and Susan Aglukark, among others.
They were honoured to be featured performers at the Anishnaabemowin Teg Language Conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 2010. Unity were featured performers at Trent University Oshawa’s TEDX talks in January of 2014.
As a mark of affection and support, Unity is known as the Trent University house band in reference to their many appearances at major Trent events.
Willoughby is a local performer who is currently exploring movement in response to sound, as a part of her journey to reclaim Anishinaabemowin, her linguistic and cultural heritage. A Northern woodlands Ojibwe of Caribbean/ Anglo descent, she was born in Thunder Bay to Paul and Therese Willoughby and Raised in Wygamig just outside of the reserve settlement of Whitesand First Nation. She later moved to the city, and by growing up between both communities has developed a unique worldview of sounds.
Peterborough Symphony Orchestra is a non-profit charity located in downtown Peterborough
at 159 King St. For 50 years the PSO has been a cultural cornerstone of the Peterborough community and has a reputation as one of the finest community-based orchestras in Canada.
Public Energy focuses on contemporary dance, theatre, performance, and interdisciplinary work, supporting the creation, touring, and presentation of innovative contemporary performance arts, and to developing audiences that are knowledgeable and passionate.
This new musical collaboration was composed by nationally renowned composer Christine Donkin, who was previously commissioned by the PSO and The Canadian Canoe Museum to create a new work, Canoe Legends, in honour of the organizations’ respective 50th and 20th anniversaries.
This initiative was made possible by the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, a collaboration between the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, Community Foundations of Canada, the Government of Canada, and leaders from coast to coast to coast.
Between the Water and the Sky is also sponsored by the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area.