Jeremy Dutcher Essentials

In 2018, the deeply moving debut Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa heralded Indigenous singer and composer Jeremy Dutcher as a vital new voice in post-classical music. It was in no small part because Dutcher was using that voice to sing in the language of his people, the Wolastoqiyik of the Tobique First Nation. For Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, the Two-Spirit Dutcher (born in New Brunswick in 1990) transcribed wax cylinder recordings of traditional songs and created new arrangements informed by his classical training. The Polaris Music Prize-winning album draws from classical and folk traditions while spotlighting Dutcher’s commanding tenor for a groundbreaking and stirring experience. In 2023, he returned with Motewolonuwok, an album on which he sings for the first time in English and delves into more modern, poppier arrangements, building an immersive soundscape that cements his place at the vanguard of Canada’s experimental artists.