Artists

• 

  visual artist and throat singer Olivia Nowdlak Chislett

  

  visual artist and throat singer Olivia Nowdlak Chislett

  Olivia Nowdlak Chislett was born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She has been practicing throat singing for most of her life and teaching it for over 10 years. Olivia sang with the Inuksuk Drum Dancers for five years, during which time she travelled internationally to share Inuit music and culture on stage.

  Presently, she teaches at Inuksuk High School where she mentors youth in the Inuksuk Drum Dancers in singing, Inuktitut, and drum dancing. She established her own throat singing club and has been teaching throat singing at the High School for several years. Olivia is a strong advocate for mental health support and sees music and music education as a pathway to creating positive spaces and relationships. She also creates visual art with a preference for illustration and comic creation and has published several of her own comics.

  Artiste visuelle et chanteuse de gorge d’Iqaluit

  Close

• 

  music teacher and ethnomusicologist Mary Piercey-Lewis

  

  music teacher and ethnomusicologist Mary Piercey-Lewis

  Dr. Mary Piercey-Lewis has a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology. Her research explored how the Inuit of Arviat, Nunavut, use their musical practices to negotiate what it means to be “inummariit”—“real Inuit” in response to massive sociocultural changes since three distinctive groups were resettled there in the 1950s.  She holds a Master of Music in Music Education and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. Presently, she lives in Nunavut, where she has taught music for over 20 years. She writes choral arrangements of Inuit songs for the Inuksuk Drum Dancers. Several of these arrangements can be heard on the three albums recorded by the Inuksuk Drum Dancers.  

  Dr. Piercey-Lewis’ newest publications, Inuit Inngiusingit: A Collection of Inuit Choral Music I and II (Inhabit Media 2016, 2022), are songbooks for students, teachers, and musicians who are interested in learning Inuit music. There are many songs transcribed from Inuit musicians. Students and teachers will find the musical arrangements and the accompanying compact disc useful in encouraging the singing of Inuktitut songs in the classroom and at home. It is her hope that Inuit Inngiusingit: A Collection of Inuit Choral Music “empowers students to develop musicianship, to enjoy the opportunities to perform great music, and to participate in Inuit culture through singing.”

  Dr. Piercey-Lewis is a 2021 Juno Award Winner!  She received the Musicounts “Music Teacher of the Year Award” at the Junos on June 6, 2021!  She won the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in the same year.  A special qujannamiik—thank you to all who support music education initiatives in the north!

  Ethnomusicologue et éducatrice artistique

  Close