This exciting concert is the first in the four-part series of free noon-hour concerts commemorating the NAC Orchestra at 50. This series will celebrate musicians with connections to the NAC Orchestra’s outstanding local and national education programs. The NAC Music Alive Program (MAP) has empowered Canada’s rural, Indigenous and underserved communities through music and the arts since 2006. Three MAP teaching artists from Alberta, where MAP was born, will share the music, stories, and interactive activities that have made MAP such a powerful vehicle for growth and creativity.

Samantha Whelan is a trumpet player, storyteller, teaching artist, and producer. She’s been an immensely popular artist with the MAP since the program’s inception in 2006. Sherryl Sewepagaham performs and composes traditional and contemporary First Nations drum songs and is part of the JUNO-nominated group Asani. She is also an experienced music therapist and educator. Her song “Music Alive!” was composed especially for the MAP in Western Canada. Walter MacDonald White Bear is a Cree singer-songwriter from the Moose Factory First Nation as well as an educator and motivational speaker.

Repertoire for this presentation will showcase compositions by the artists themselves as well as traditional songs and classical staples, all of which have delighted and inspired thousands of children across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The NAC’s 50th anniversary events and programs are made possible with support from Gail Asper, O.C., O.M., LL.D. and Michael Paterson, Bonnie and John Buhler, Alice and Grant Burton, Margaret Fountain, C.M., DFA (h) and David Fountain, C.M., Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LL.D. (hc). Janice and Earle O’Born, Gail O’Brien, LL.D. and David O’Brien, O.C., and Dasha Shenkman, OBE, Hon RCM.