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Bravo Niagara! Presents The North Star Festival: Voices of Freedom October 2-4, 2015
“Canada is not merely a neighbour to Negroes. Deep in our history of struggle for freedom, Canada was the North
Star. The Negro slave, denied education, de-humanized, imprisoned on cruel plantations, knew that far to the north a land existed where a fugitive slave, if he survived the horrors of the journey, could find freedom. The legendary
underground railroad started in the south and ended in Canada. The freedom road links us together. Our spirituals, now so widely admired around the world, were often codes. We sang of 'heaven' that awaited us, and the slave masters listened in innocence, not realizing that we were not speaking of the hereafter. Heaven was the word for Canada and
the Negro sang of the hope that his escape on the underground railroad would carry him there.” --Martin Luther King Jr., “Conscience for Change” 1967 Massey Lectures, Toronto
In honour of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent: Recognition, Justice and Development (2015-2024), Bravo Niagara! will present The North Star Festival: Voices of Freedom, an initiative that will utilize music and other art forms to give voice to Niagara’s rich Black history and the legacy of the Underground Railroad. In particular, it will pay tribute to the courageous freedom-seekers who followed the North Star and established communities in Niagara, a terminus of the Underground Railroad known as the “City of Refuge.” The North Star Festival will also align with the 70th Anniversary of UNESCO and the 21st Anniversary of the International Scientific Committee UNESCO Slave Route Project: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage. This annual festival will unite the Niagara Region in a global movement of promoting deeper cultural understanding, peace and dialogue for current and future generations. Bravo Niagara! is honoured to present the Nathaniel Dett Chorale as The North Star Festival’s Ensemble-in-Residence. Bravo Niagara!’s Artistic Director Christine Mori and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s Artistic Director Brainerd Blyden-Taylor will serve as Co-Artistic Directors for this ongoing collaborative project set to launch in the fall of 2015. Canada’s first professional choral group dedicated to Afrocentric music of all styles, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale has performed at events honouring Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in addition to being the only Canadian ensemble invited to perform for President Obama’s inauguration. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s mission is “to build bridges of understanding, appreciation, and acceptance between communities of people, both Afrocentric and other, through the medium of music. The Chorale seeks to dissolve the barriers of stereotype, to empower humans in general, and those of African descent in particular.”
The North Star Festival will illuminate the contributions of renowned Black composer Nathaniel Dett (1881-1943), a Niagara Falls native whose most enduring musical legacy exists through his classical arrangements of spirituals. The Chorale’s performance will also feature music of the Underground Railroad that was both a form of deep spiritual expression and a secret code language
among those escaping slavery. Nathaniel Dett’s ancestors were among the freedom-seekers who found refuge in Niagara. From 1898-1903, he served as the church organist for the British Methodist Episcopal Church in Niagara Falls, which is now named in his honour as the Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel and designated as a National Historic Site by the Government of Canada. The opening day of The North Star Festival will feature a free community outreach “informance” at the Niagara Historical Society & Museum in partnership with the Harriet Tubman Institute at York University, the lead institution which represents Canada on the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project. This educational initiative will utilize a multi-sensory approach to engaging audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds and will include lectures, a commissioned photographic installation, archival display, performances, and a presentation of “Breaking the Chains: Presenting a New Narrative for Canada’s Role in the Underground Railroad,” an interactive research tool designed by the Harriet Tubman Institute. The second day will feature “Food for the Soul” in partnership with The Market @ The Village, bringing together 30 vendors of local chefs, food trucks, music, artisans, local produce, Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake and more. “Food for the Soul” will coincide with the Harvest Celebration and last market of the 2015 season. Locals and visitors alike will have an opportunity to come together and experience the roots of soul food and the culinary contributions of people of African descent. The North Star Festival: Voices of Freedom will culminate with a performance by the renowned Nathaniel Dett Chorale at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Founded in 1794, St. Andrew’s has a special connection to the story of the Underground Railroad, as their schoolhouse was once used for children of Niagara’s Black settlers who found freedom in Niagara. Using the power of music, we believe we can communicate this powerful story and a painful subject of our past that is often difficult to express through words. This music is vital to telling the story of the strength of the human spirit, uniting people of all backgrounds and ages through its universal language, and fostering a shared sense of identity across our Region and beyond.
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31 October 2014 Ms. Alexis Spieldenner Director of Marketing & Development Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts - A Symphony of the Senses Dear Ms. Spieldenner, On behalf of the Harriet Tubman Institute, I write to support, in the strongest terms,your proposal to present “The North Star Festival: Voices of Freedom” which will utilise a variety of artistic means of engaging the community in order to recognise and celebrate the historical, musical and culinary contributions of persons of African descent in the Niagara region. This three-day programme promises to use a number of innovations to inform the public about and to commemorate the incredible acts of bravery which resulted in Blacks, both enslaved and free, making their way into the Niagara region and establishing communities in the area. In partnership with the Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre and the Niagara Historical Society which will offer archival displays and a lecture, the Harriet Tubman at York University intends to contribute to this effort through a presentation of “Breaking the Chains: Presenting a New Narrative for Canada’s Role in the Underground Railroad,” an interactive research tool which speaks directly to the concerns of this project. As the lead institution which represents Canada on the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage, the Harriet Tubman Institute is pleased to include this event among those which will celebrate the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent: Recognition, Justice and Development (2015-2024), the 70th Anniversary of UNESCO, and the 21st Anniversary of the ISC-Slave Route Project: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage. This project, Voices of Freedom: The Underground Railroad Project, represents an important addition to the history and heritage of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and Canada. We look forward to our direct participation in the programme, and to supporting all aspects of this significant project. Sincerely,
Michele A. Johnson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of History Director, Harriet Tubman Institute 416-736-2100 extn. 66933
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First Capital of Upper Canada - 1792
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 1593 Four Mile Creek Road P.O. Box 100, Virgil, ON L0S 1T0 905-468-3266 x Fax: 905-468-2959
www.notl.org
December 4, 2014 Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation 10 Dundas Street East Suite 900 Toronto, ON M7A 2A1 To Whom It May Concern: Re: Grant Application by Bravo Niagara! – Tourism Event Marketing Program I am pleased to support the application by Bravo Niagara! for the 2015 Tourism Event Marketing Program for The North Star Festival: Voices of Freedom. Scheduled to take place October 2-4, 2015, here in Niagara-on-the-Lake, this unique festival will feature the world-renowned Nathaniel Dett Chorale – Bravo Niagara!’s Ensemble-in-Residence – and is expected to become an ongoing initiative in partnership with our Niagara Historical Society & Museum and The Harriet Tubman Institute at York University. I understand next year’s event is being held in honour of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent and the 70th Anniversary of UNESCO, and is designed to give voice to Niagara’s rich black history and legacy of the Underground Railroad. We look forward to welcoming this festival to our Town’s complement of tourist attractions and commend organizers for their community outreach and partnership initiatives with local vendors and associations. Thank you for your consideration of this application. Sincerely, Mike Galloway, MBA, CMO Chief Administrative Officer
43 Castlereagh Street, PO Box 208, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0 p: 905-468-3912 f: 905-468-1728 email: [email protected]
www.niagarahistorical.museum
October 10, 2014 Niagara Investment in Culture Program ATTN: Marian Bannerman Niagara Region 2201 St. David’s Rd., P.O. Box 1042 Thorold, ON L2V 4T7 Dear Marian,
On behalf of the Niagara Historical Society & Museum, I would like to express our support of Bravo Niagara! Presents Voices of Freedom: The Underground Railroad Project. This project honours the legacy of the Underground Railroad and pays tribute to the crucial role music played in the slaves' fight for freedom. As the first colony of Britain to introduce legislation to phase out slavery, Niagara's unique role in the Underground Railroad had a huge impact. This history needs to be told in order to promote a shared sense of identity across our culturally diverse Region. The Niagara Historical Society would be pleased to partner on this project by assisting with plans for a lecture about the Underground Railroad at the NOTL Community Centre and the creation of a display of archival material in collaboration with other regional museums. The multi-sensory approach to this project – the combination of music, an educational lecture and visual exhibition - will surely appeal to a diverse audience and present a difficult topic for the region and its visitors in a more accessibly and interactive way. It is very important that all communities in the Region be aware of this chapter of Canadian history and we believe that the universal language of music will be the means to sharing these stories. Sincerely, Sarah Maloney Kaufman Managing Director
