Keyword: Erik Gillespie

CMU alumnus gives new voice to historic Métis anthem

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 @ 10:46 AM

CMU alumnus Erik Gillespie spent last year working as a restaurant server, but this summer he took on a tall order of a different kind: updating a 200-year-old anthem of the Red River Métis for a new generation.

The historic anthem, "La Chanson de la Grenouillère" ("The Song of Frog Plain"), is one of the best-known pieces of Métis oral tradition. It was composed by Pierre Falcon, a Métis fur trader, poet, and songwriter, following the Victory at Frog Plain on June 19, 1816.

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CMU faculty, students, alumnus thrilled to participate in Indigenous opera premiere

Thursday, December 21, 2023 @ 2:51 PM

Li Keur: Riel's Heart of the North premiered last month in a rush of vibrant colour, rich story, and lively music and dance. The production, performed by Manitoba Opera, sold out each of its three performances at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg on November 18, 22, and 24.

Li Keur is the first full-scale Indigenous-led opera to be presented on a Canadian mainstage. "I wish to place the beautiful Indigenous languages, cultures, and narratives of the central continent—those that have been relegated to a historical footnote at best, a nuisance or a threat at worst—to their rightful place at the heart of cultural institutions of the region," said Métis poet and scholar Dr. Suzanne Steele.

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