Indigenous artist teams up with Regina Symphony to connect with high school students

Indigenous artistZoey Roy wanted to learn how to make music when she was young.

"When I was a kid, I really wanted an instrument. And for a while I had one. But, being in the music program wasn't sustainable because we couldn't afford it," said Roy, a spoken word artist and educator.

Now, the Cree-Dene-Metiswoman is using her voice as an instrument in theRegina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) in Schoolsprogram, called Enough is Enough, which was developed to inform and challenge students' perceptions of Indigenous culture and history.

The RSO program featuresa half-hour, pre-recorded RSO Chamber Players performance, showcasing Roy,a teacher's resource guide for asix-lesson plan withactivities and discussion questions. Students and teachers can follow theprinted poems that Roy penned, as they watchthe video.

Enough is Enough

The program covers Indigenous-related topics including racism, reconciliation and residentialschools that can be used as part of Grade 9 to 12 social studies or English language arts classes. It was shared with all of the southern Saskatchewan school divisions earlier this month and will be available for the next year or two.

Roy, a renowned speaker at local, provincial, nationaland international stages and conferences, has taught workshops in more500 classrooms. And she jumped at the chance to partner with the orchestra.

"I had always wanted to work withorchestral sounds and also the discipline, which is so far from my own creative practice," said Roy, who is based in Kingston, about 260 km east of Toronto.

Shawn Earle, RSO'seducation and outreach manager, putthe Enough is Enough project together and said he hopes students and teachers find it helpful.

The idea to get Roy involved came fromRSO musical director Gordon Gerrard, who was familiar with her workwith the orchestrain the Forward Currents Festival, an event that combines art, music and education in an immersive environment.

Roy is an educator thatspecializes in youth engagement and community-based solutions to deep-rooted colonial issues in Canada, including suicide prevention and life celebration, Indigenous creation and creativity, and racism.

"The ideas that she had and the values of the RSO really, really aligned, Earle said, addingit seemed like a natural collaboration.

Roy wrote six poemsto accompany for each of the musical worksthat Omar Ballantyne composed and Juliet Palmer arranged. Karl Hirzer, the associate conductor with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted the performances for the recording in November.

Roy, amember of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, about 140 km northeastof Saskatoon, welcomed the challenges in merging the juxtaposition of classical music with spoken word.

Indigenous ways

For the piece titled 'We are the Buffalo,' Roy drew from aconversation she heard between Metis men recalling their time as farmers in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. There, she sensed sadness in their pride. She also heard this sadness in the elders.

"I wanted to illustrate those nuances a bit. And to try to get people to be inspired by Indigenous ways of knowing in a way that motivates them to be a part of it. We are not sad. We are here. We are super here,"Roy said.

She said she appreciated the having the RSO's trust to follow her creative process for actualizing this collaboration.

"Music matters," she said."It makes a difference in our lives because it opens our minds to how we see ourselves and what we can be a part of, what our lives can look likeThat's a message that I would like to share."