Sounding Thunder, the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow

Brian D. McInnes is the author of Sounding Thunder: The Stories of Francis Pegahmagabow. He is a faculty member in the UMD Department of Education, and a University of Minnesota Distinguished Teaching Professor, working principally in community-based language revitalization and oral history. A member of the Wasauksing First Nation, McInnes has a deep interest in the preservation of Indigenous cultures and languages and is an accomplished speaker, presenter, and writer in English and Ojibwe.

Jodi Contin Baker is a highly energetic Anishinaabe Kwe who hails from Wasauksing First Nation. Empowering and lifting up others is one of the ways she holds space to encourage people to find their path to healing. Drumming and singing are activities close to her heart. Not only is Jodi a singer and drummer, she’s a renowned drum-maker as well. Previously, she worked as Cultural Coordinator, for the Shawanaga First Nation Healing Centre, and brought together Knowledge Keepers, Elders and grassroots communities to help reclaim culture and identity.  Jodi was nominated for the Order of Parry Sound, in January 2021.

Sage Cloud, is an emerging talent from Berens River First Nation. He has studied at the University of Winnipeg under a Bachelor of Arts for Film. Sage has been featured as part of CBC’s 2023 National Screen Institute. He has acted the film Hair of the Bear directed by Sacha Trudeau and James McLellan, Many Wounds directed by Jeremy Torrie, and that I also acted in Acting Good.

Larry Beckwith is a creative contributor to Canada’s musical life as a conductor, violinist, singer, writer, educator and programmer. In the summer of 2018, he conducted the successful world premiere and subsequent Ontario tour of Sounding Thunder. He runs the celebrated voice and strings program at the arts-intensive Unionville High School, as well as conducting the Mooredale Senior Youth Orchestra. Beckwith has lectured on music history for the universities of Toronto and Guelph, and has held positions as a producer for CBC Radio Music, general manager of Choirs Ontario and director of programming for the 2002 Joy of Singing Festival in Toronto.

James Campbell has performed as soloist and chamber musician in over 35 countries with over 60 orchestras including the Boston Pops, Montreal Symphony and the London Symphony. He has been inducted in the CBC Classical Music Hall of Fame, named Canada’s Artist of the Year, awarded the Queen’s Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medal, an Honorary Doctor of Laws, and the Order of Canada. James Campbell has been Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound since 1985 and has been Professor of Music at the famed Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University since 1988.

Guy Few: “Virtuoso”, “flawless”, “wild and joyous” are only a few of the reviews for’sGuy Few’s incredible trumpet playing. He performs regularly with Leslie Fagan, Stephanie Mara, Mark Fewer and others while maintaining collaborations with orchestras, festivals and series in Canada and the USA. Whether in traditional Baroque repertoire or Contemporary premieres, Few infuses each performance with a commitment to technical and artistic perfection. In addition to his active career as a soloist, Guy remains a committed and prolific chamber artist in a range of ensembles including Few Mara Duo, Bellows and Brass, Few and Fewer and Project Aria.

Beverley Johnston is one of Canada’s leading percussionists. Over the years, she has commissioned and performed many works by leading Canadian composers some of which have become a staple of the standard percussion repertory around the world. In honour of her exemplary commitment to the performance of the music of Canadian composers, she has been awarded the distinction of “Canadian Music Centre Ambassador”. She has been invited to numerous internationally renowned marimba and percussion festivals over the years. She has recorded six solo CD’s and can be heard as soloist and chamber musician on many other recordings. 

Joel Quarrington has served as the Principal Double Bassist of many ensembles including the Canadian Opera Company, The Toronto Symphony and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and most recently, the famous London Symphony Orchestra. Joel is a winner of the Geneva International Competition and the CBC Talent Competition, and has made solo appearances across Canada, the United States, Europe and China.  In 2011, he received a Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Solo Performance from the International Society of Bassists and in 2015 they awarded Joel the same award for Outstanding Orchestral Performance.

Karl Stobbe is recognized as one of Canada’s most accomplished violinists, known for his dedication to excellence on the violin and classical music in all its forms. As a concertmaster, soloist, and chamber musician, Karl has been an audience favorite in small settings and large venues. His diverse career has included performances of all six Ysaÿe Sonatas for Solo Violin, all 16 Beethoven String Quartets, and all 10 Mahler Symphonies. Noted for his generous, rich sound and long, poignant phrasing, he is described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “an artist with soulful musicianship,” and by London’s Sunday Times as “a master soloist, recalling the golden age of violin playing… producing a breathtaking range of tone colours.”

Holly Bryan is thrilled to join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra horn section in an acting position for the 2022/23 season. Holly enjoys a diverse performance schedule as an active freelance musician in the Vancouver area. In addition to orchestral and chamber music performances, Holly is frequently recorded as a session musician for film soundtracks and albums of various genres. Holly also plays the natural horn and has performed with period instrument orchestras including the Victoria Baroque Players, Juilliard 415 and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. She joined Les Violons du Roy for their tour to South Korea and China in 2019.

Rachel Thomas began playing at age 10 and never looked back. She attended the University of Toronto as a student of Gordon Sweeney, Principal Trombone of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Thomas was also a regular extra with the TSO for over twenty years, joining them on two European tours, several trips to Carnegie Hall, and can be heard on two Finlandia recordings. In 2003, Thomas joined the Faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University where she brings energy and enthusiasm to her trombone studio, coaches chamber brass and conducts the WLU Trombone Choir.

Christian Sharpe performed with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for 20 years and regularly at the Festival of the Sound, the Elora Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Westben Festival, and has appeared with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre.  Christian was a featured soloist on a 2016 re-recording and release of The Mozart Effect (available on Spotify).

Eric Wilson was awarded the Bronze Medal (1971) in the Geneva International Competition and co-winner of the Morris Loeb Prize for Strings (1973) at the Juilliard School. Eric Wilson was solo cellist of the Ensemble of New York in residence at the Lincoln Centre, New York. He was also a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet that won in 1978 the prestigious Walter W. Naumberg competition Prize for Chamber Ensemble.

J. Warren Long has been a member of the VSO Bass section since 1974. Born into a musical family he began his first studies at age 10 on the trumpet. After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance from Western Washington State College he was accepted as a member of the Victoria Symphony in 1972.

His principal teachers include Ron Simon, Kenneth Friedman and Orin O’Brien. An interest in solo playing led him to study privately from 1980-88 in Aspen with Eugene Levinson principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic.

Armand Garnet Ruffo is a Canadian scholar, filmmaker, writer and poet of Anishinaabe-Ojibwe ancestry. He is a member of the Chapleau (Fox Lake) Cree First Nation. In the past, Ruffo has taught creative writing at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Tŷ Newydd” Centre for Literature Wales, as well as Indigenous literature at the En’owkin International School of Writing in Penticton, B.C., and at Carleton University in Ottawa. His books include Norval Morrisseau: Man Changing Into Thunderbird and Treaty#, both finalists for Governor General’s Literary Awards. His latest book is The Dialogues: the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow. He currently resides in Kingston, Ontario, and teaches at Queen’s University, where he is the Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Literature.

Jodi Contin Baker is a highly energetic Anishinaabe Kwe who hails from Wasauksing First Nation. Empowering and lifting up others is one of the ways she holds space to encourage people to find their path to healing. This production would not have been possible without Jodi’s knowledge as a cultural advisor and contributions as a song writer.

Brian D. McInnes is the author of Sounding Thunder: The Stories of Francis Pegahmagabow. Brian’s extensive knowledge about the life of his great grandfather, Francis Pegahmagabow, has informed the production since its beginnings in 2018.