The mantra of the North…expect the unexpected, weather rules . And so it has been since I left for Igloolik on Sun Feb 6, or so I thought..
Between one weather delay after another, I did not make it to Igloolik until Tuesday evening, so I had already lost two days!
And as luck would have it, we woke up Wednesday morning to blizzard conditions with extreme cold and 50 kmh winds. We soldiered on to the high school and elementary schools in the morning, but by noon conditions had deteriorated to near zero visibility. The schools had to be closed for the remainder of the day. Such is life in the far north!
Weather aside, Greg Brown and I made a fun appearance on the Igloolik radio station Tuesday evening, jamming with the high school gym teacher who also plays guitar.
Greg spent Wednesday morning was spent introducing the elementary school students to the violin and accordion. First Air had cargoed five 1/2 size violins graciously funded by Friends of the NAC Orchestra, ten 3/4 violins, and 8 accordions to Igloolik – they arrived just in the nick of time.
I spent the morning at the high school with the music classes, and the afternoon with the music teacher, answering numerous questions and talking shop. By the way, this is the first year that music been included in the curriculum – a wonderful addition and a refreshing change from the trend in the “south”.
Tomorrow promises to be a very full a day, weather permitting of course. Stay tuned, if you’ll pardon the pun!
By Lynne Hammond, violin
NAC Orchestra
