Composer Barbara Assiginaak says of her background:

“Rooted in the Anishinaabe aural/oral traditions of singing, drumming and the pipigwan/bbigon (cedar flute) from a young age, I am also classically-trained in piano and other European instruments, Western music theory and composition technique. Over many years I have also worked closely and collaboratively with musicians of diverse ethnicities who are the grassroots knowledge-keepers of their cultures.

I studied music composition formally at the University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music/Glenn Gould School, Musikhochschule in München (Germany), and Centre Acanthes (France). My foremost teachers in the Western Classical tradition are Grace Vandendool, Dr. Samuel Dolin, Art Levine, Sasha Rapaport, Edward Laufer, Robert Saxton, Sir Peter Maxwell-Davies and Helmut Lachenmann.”

The TMC commissioned Creation and will premiere this work in May 2022 at its Endangered concert.