A powerful and memorable evening featuring award-winning Inuk singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark is coming to Vancouver Island next spring.
As part of the 30th Anniversary Tour of This Child, Aglukark will perform multiple Vancouver Island dates with special guest Angela Amarualik, celebrating a landmark album in Canadian music history.
According to her website, Aglukark is often asked where the album’s title came from.
"This Child, the song, was my artist statement, my call to personal action. I started with what I knew and at the time that I was writing This Child, what I knew was a life of deep alone-ness. I left home to start over and this felt very much like disconnecting from something critical, a land-based way of connection which was the Inuit way and a most beautiful kind of connecting to humanity, the alone-ness came from the fear that I was disconnecting from this.
“This Child was my song to my future artist and Inuk self, telling myself to write who you are so you don’t ever forget where you come from, who you are and why you left.”
Aglukark began her music career in the early 1990s, using it as a platform for learning and healing. Her debut album, This Child, released in January 1995, has had a lasting impact. Over the past 30 years, she has released 10 albums, founded the Arctic Rose Foundation, written two children's books, and is working on a personal memoir.
Aglukark is the first Inuk artist to win a Juno Award (four-time winner), the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement, and she is an Officer of the Order of Canada. Her music uniquely blends Inuit traditions, pop, and country. Her work on This Child was a pivotal moment, prompting her to speak up, learn, heal, and share through her art.
Promotional material for the tour states This Child remains a groundbreaking album that continues to inspire and uplift. The evening promises to be a celebration of music, culture, and storytelling, ensuring a memorable and moving experience.
Aglukark plays Campbell River's Tidemark Theatre, Tuesday, April 1, the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay on Wednesday, April 2, Nanaimo's Port Theatre on Thursday, April 3, and the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, Friday, April 4.
