Join us for a special Musically Speaking where we welcome internationally acclaimed Canadian poet and novelist, Joy Kogawa, and Indigenous composer, Ian Cusson, in conversation with CBC’s Adrian Harewood.

Inspired by Joy Kogawa’s vivid and poignant poetry about her experiences of living in an internment camp for Japanese-Canadians during WWII, composer Ian Cusson used those poems as the libretto for his first work as NAC Carrefour composer. Where There’s a Wall is for mezzo-soprano and sextet, and features Canadian mezzo Krisztina Szabó and members of the NAC Orchestra. It will receive its world premiere as part of the NAC Orchestra’s Music for a Sunday Afternoon series at the National Gallery of Canada on November 4 at 2:00pm.

About Joy
Joy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese-Canadian parents. During WWII, Kogawa and her family were forced to move to Slocan, British Columbia, an injustice Kogawa addresses in her 1981 novel, Obasan, one of the handful of Canadian novels that have become essential reading for a nation. Interned with her Japanese-Canadian family during WWII, she has worked tirelessly to educate and help redress a dark moment in our history. 
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In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada; in 2006, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia. In 2010, the Japanese government honoured Kogawa with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese-Canadian history.

About Ian
Ian Cusson is a Canadian composer of art song, opera and orchestral work. Of Métis and French Canadian descent, his work explores the Canadian Aboriginal experience, including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures.

He studied composition with Jake Heggie and Samuel Dolin and piano with James Anagnoson at the Glenn Gould School. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants including the Chalmers Professional Development Grant, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Award, and several grants through the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.  Ian is an inaugural Carrefour Composer in Residence with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre.

He lives in Toronto with his wife and four children.

About Adrian
Adrian Harewood is co-host of CBC News Ottawa. Harewood attended elementary and high school at Ashbury College, and was involved in community radio at CKCU (Carleton University) and CHUO (University of Ottawa). He has been a guest host on national CBC programs such as As it Happens, Sounds Like Canada and The Current. Before coming to television, Harewood was the host of All In A Day on CBC Radio One in Ottawa.