It is an invitation to still yourself, to live through music and spoken word, uncover your inner self and allow it to wash over you. Saskatoon artists, advocate, and educator Zoey Roy is excited to premiere her latest performance piece, Ever, Beautiful, with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra in Controlled Burn.

“Life is messy and painful but there is so much beauty in us inherently.”

Poet Zoey Roy returns home to premiere her latest work Ever, Beautiful with the SSO. (Red Works Photography)

“Ever, Beautiful is symbolic of the fact we never lose our inherent beauty. Just because you go through experiences that are not wholesome, it doesn’t make you less whole or deserving,” Roy says. “One of the main ideas that came from writing this show is that life is messy and painful but there is so much beauty in us inherently.”

The work is a collection of Roy’s poems and songs set to music created by her partner Omar Ballantyne. They are a gathering of memories and experiences that are both personal and universal. The piece was arranged by celebrated Canadian composer and cellist Cris Derksen.

“It’s a major deal to be able to work with Cris, a master of their craft,” says Roy. “How much care she’s put into this work and as an artist that’s something I value above all else. That’s the poetry, why this show is going to be outstanding, it was created with love, care and understanding.”

“This is a melding of so many cultures and ideologies and braiding it into something more relatable for the audience.”

Cris Derksen will take the stage with the SSO in Controlled Burn. (Tanja Tiziana)

Derksen is a major part of the evening as she takes to the stage as featured cellist in a performance of her ground-breaking new work Controlled Burn. It is a musical depiction of the traditional Indigenous fire practice of using controlled burns to manage the forest. Derksen premiered the piece last spring in Worcester, Philadelphia and New York’s Carnegie Hall.

“It’s my favourite thing that I’ve ever done. Being an Indigenous musician, this is a melding of so many cultures and ideologies and braiding it into something more relatable for the audience.” Derksen explains, “I play a carbon fibre, black cello and have a whole set of guitar pedals in front of me. There’s moments when I have a solo with more of an electric, street sound and others where I blend in with the rest of the orchestra with a more classical vibe.”

Conductor Janna Sailor will lead the orchestra through this entirely Canadian program including Jean Coulthard’s Canada Mosaic, Frenergy by John Estacio, and Saskatoon composer Wayne Toews’ Contemplating Clouds on a Prairie Sky. It’s a celebration of pure Canadian excellence.