Sounding Thunder: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow

Event Details

Event type: All Ages

A musical journey into the life of the renowned Ojibwe WWI sniper and decorated officer of the Canadian military, Francis Pegahmagabow. Composed by Tim Corlis and written by Ojibwe poet Armand Garnet Ruffo, Sounding Thunder is a complex work divided into three acts, exploring Pegahmagabow’s early years immersed in the world of the Anishinaabe spirits, his extraordinary accomplishments in the trenches of WWI, and finally his political life as Chief of the Wausauksing Ojibwe and founder of the early Indigenous political moment in Canada.  Based on archival sources, and the book Sounding Thunder by Brian McInnes who provides new perspective on Pegahmagabow and his experience through a unique synthesis of Ojibwe oral history, historical record, and Pegahmagabow family stories, Sounding Thunder: the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow is a one of a kind musical-theatre experience. 

Written by:
Timothy Corlis - Composer
Armand Garnet Ruffo - Librettist
In consultation Brian D. McInnes and Jodi Baker Contin
 
Performed by:
Jodi Baker Contin - Singer, Song Writer, Actor
Keenan Keeshig - Actor
Brian D. McInnes - Narrator, Cultural Consultant
James Campbell - Clarinet
Larry Beckwith - Conductor, Actor
Beverly Johnston - Percussion
Mark Fewer - Violin
Christian Sharpe - Bassoon
Rachel Thomas - Trombone
Guy Few - Trumpet
Joel Quarrington - Double Bass
 
Gabriel Cropley - Stage and Lighting Designer
Jennifer Norton and Emile Surette - Projection Design
Alanis King - Dramaturge
 
Produced and commissioned by: 
The Festival of the Sound
James Campbell Artistic Director 
Michael Martyn Executive Director

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