An Evening for Truth and Reconciliation: Music, Art, and Dialogue

Admission is free with an RSVP ticket. All are welcome.

Donations to support the artists will be accepted at the door with the proceeds going to support local Indigenous organizations and initiatives.

The entrance to this event in Alix Goolden Performance Hall is at the Victoria Conservatory of Music entrance at 900 Johnson Street.

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“This year marks ten years since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. It is more important than ever to keep the dialogue alive and thriving in our community,” says Ry Moran. “Music and the arts are so important in helping continue this journey.”

“Reconciliation lives in action. By uplifting Indigenous youth,” says Nikky Ermineskin, “we are not only empowering the present — we are sustaining the culture, language, art and music that have carried us through generations. This is how we honour Truth and Reconciliation in a living, breathing way.”

About the event

The evening will feature performances, conversation, and collaborative artmaking. Hip hop artist and filmmaker Nikky Ermineskin (Nikky E) will co-host alongside Ry Moran, guest faculty in Music and Reconciliation at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and one of Canada’s leading voices in Truth and Reconciliation.

Music will include performances by flutist Tyler Evans-Knott, singer-songwriter Colleen Eccleston, and Good Medicine, a group of Indigenous youth sharing their culture through drumming, dancing, and song.

Visual artists Francis Dick and Jesse Campbell will contribute their work, including the guitar that inspired their new mural at the Conservatory entrance at 900 Johnson Street, which will be played by Cedar Lopatecki during the event.

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Bios:

Bradley Dick (Yuxwelupton Qwal’ qaxala)

Yuxwelupton Qwal’ qaxala (Bradley Dick)  is of Lkwungen, Mamalilikulla and Ditidaht ancestry. Bradley is married to Jennifer Chuckry and has three beautiful children Shayla (and granddaughter Kaydence aka Granny), Dakota, and Cienna. All are of Cree ancestry. He also has an Australian shepherd, Cy the family guy.

Bradley is a contemporary artist who enjoys working collaboratively with his brothers Clarence Dick Jr., Fabian Quocksister, and his dad Butch Dick carving ceremonial poles that adorn City hall and the Songhees Wellness Centre. Bradley has been doing commissioned works for well over 20 years and has artworks all over the world as far away as New Zealand, England, Norway and Sweden. He has sold numerous drums and carving locally, focusing on designs based on his family teachings and culture.

His works consist of original paintings, small and large carvings, contemporary designs on shoes and hats. He also creates collaborative paintings with his wife Jennifer that reflect her Cree ancestry as well as Bradley’s west coast influences. These works have been sold privately throughout Vancouver Island and Bradley is sure there will be more works to come.

Ry Moran

Since 2023, Ry Moran has assisted the Conservatory through a guest faculty appointment in Music and Reconciliation. He aims to celebrate the role of music in advancing Truth and Reconciliation, while also helping explore the responsibilities carried by music centers like the Victoria Conservatory in its mission of learning, performance, and wellness. At the same time, Ry has continued work on an album and the ongoing production of his podcast Taapwaywin. The project is supported by the City of Victoria’s Music Strategy program and an Operating Grant from the CRD.

A multi-instrumentalist, electronic music composer, podcaster, and member of the Red River Métis, Ry is more often known as one of Canada’s central figures in Truth and Reconciliation. Growing up in Victoria Ry moved Winnipeg in 2010 to serve as the Director of Statement Gathering for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He then served as the founding Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) and is presently the Associate University Librarian – Reconciliation at the University of Victoria, the first of its kind in the country.

Ry’s passion for teaching, arts and music is abundant. His commitment to the principles of Truth and Reconciliation is unwavering.

Nikky Ermineskin

Nicole “Nikky E” Ermineskin is a nêhiyaw mother, interdisciplinary digital media artist, mentor, youth worker, recording and performing artist, stage manager, and event organizer.

With a diploma in audio engineering and production, she has spent over 22 years carving her path through the many facets of the music and arts world — from hosting radio shows and organizing community events to videography, frontline Indigenous resistance media/journalism, and pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a professional recording and performing artist.

Displaced from her traditional homelands, Nikky grew up in East Van, where she fought through systemic challenges and oppression to walk the creative and cultural path she’s on today. Her work is deeply rooted in inspiring Indigenous youth to follow their dreams, share their stories with the world, and stay grounded in Indigenous culture, language, and ceremony.

Tyler Evans-Knott

Originally from Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario, Anishinaabe flutist Tyler Evans-Knott is currently pursuing a Diploma in Flute Performance through Camosun College and the Victoria Conservatory of Music, studying with Emily Nagelbach and also participating in the Gary Karr Young Artists Performance Academy. A recipient of several awards and scholarships, Tyler has performed regularly as a soloist and in ensembles such as the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Kawartha Youth Orchestra, Peterborough Concert Band, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and in joint concerts with the Toronto Symphony and Vancouver Symphony.In April 2022, he performed in “The Path Forward” with the Vancouver Symphony and the VSO Indigenous Arts Council, playing in the orchestra and also performing the solo flute work Homeland by Allison Loggins-Hull.

Recently, Tyler has begun his career as a freelance orchestral musician, performing works by Schumann, Schafer, and Schubert with the Victoria Symphony in January 2024. At the 2024 Spark to Flame Student Showcase, Tyler performed the second movement of Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears Concerto, entitled “incantation,” which reflects upon the passing of loved ones who’ve travelled to the Spirit World.

Colleen Eccleston

After 14 years with The Ecclestons and many adventures on the road, Colleen stepped out to share her contagious love of life as she turned the human condition into a song. Having played with both Karel Roessingh (piano) and Scott White (bass) separately years before she was honoured to add their virtuosity to her eclectic mix of material. Known for her emotional range and keen insight she writes beyond the love song into what makes us human in this wacky world.

Born in Calgary Alberta, the daughter of a nomadic English Professor, she has lived in 45 houses all across the country and in Mexico. A child prodigy she began her career in Newfoundland at the age of 11 and has captured audiences ever since. She has toured fronting a full on six piece rock band Grand Union, Vancouver Celtic Band Under the Moss, Rattle in the Dash, James Keelaghan, Bourne and McLeod, Valdy and the list goes on. You can hear her voice on ‘Star Trails’ by Spirit of the West, ‘A Recent Future’ and ‘My Skies’ by James Keelaghan, ‘Eye of A Hurricane’ by Douglas Pashley,’Dance and Celebrate’by Bourne and McLeod,’Vera’s Cafe’ by Mark Perry and many more. Colleen has toured the province with The Other Guys Theatre Company’s hit folk musical ‘Good Timber’.

Colleen’s music has been featured in plays, documentaries and radio stations across the US, Canada, Germany, Holland and the UK. Her appearances include touring all over for festivals and concerts in Canada and the US. Most recently she joined the ‘Back to the Garden’ roots tour with Dan Lapp, Mae Moore, Neil Osbourne, Doug Cox, Carolyn Mark and Oliver Swain.

Colleen is a rock singer/ folk singer/ songwriter/ actor with a BFA in Theatre. She is also an instructor for The History of Rock and Roll and the Beatles as well as a songwriting mentor at both the University of Victoria and Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Francis Dick

Born in 1959 into the Musqamakw Dzawadaenutw Band (the four tribes of Kingcome Inlet), Francis Dick is a contemporary Native artist and a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation. She is a descendant of the supernatural Wolf, Kawadelekala, who became the first of the Kingcome people.

The image of this mythical being is prominent in much of Francis Dick’s native art, acknowledging her contemporary ties to her cultural heritage. Francis holds this very near to the centre of her spirit, as she relies on this hereditary knowledge for her strength. “Before anything else, my work is about honouring my life process, my journey, through my fires, from places of pain and darkness to places that I might stand in my truth; my work is not a career, it’s a way of life.”

Francis began her career as a social worker after receiving her degree from the University of Victoria, but quickly realized that her true calling in life was to honour her natural artistic talents.

Francis Dick’s first aboriginal painting, Kawadelekala, was created, then published, as a way to honour her grandmother’s life and spirit after her death in December of 1985. Four months later, her youngest brother, Jesse, took his own life. She created her second aboriginal painting as a way to acknowledge her love and honour for her brother. The pain of losing Jesse took her to a doorway where her journey of self discovery began through her northwest coast art.

Francis Dick is an integral member of the native art community, and is frequently requested to speak for various community organizations, women’s groups and university classes. She has been invited to speak as a guest lecturer as far away as Europe and has had native art exhibitions all around the globe, including China and the Middle East. Francis’ native art has been exhibited in various art galleries and museums, including a permanent exhibit at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. Her aboriginal paintings, as well as articles and interviews, have been published in books, calendars and magazines all over North America, Asia and Europe.

Although Francis Dick’s primary forms of artistic expression have been her aboriginal paintings, prints and singing, she also works with gold and silver, and is an accomplished writer and performer of native ceremonies.

Jesse Campbell

Jesse Campbell is a Michif mural artist, public arts consultant, and director of Tah’lum (Tah-lum) Indigenous Artists collective. On his mother’s side he is Michif (mih-chiff) from St. Boniface as well as Salteaux (su-toh) from Waterhen Lake Manitoba.

On his Fathers side he his mixed English, german, and French ancestry. Jesse has been painting murals professionally since 2010 and has worked on some of the largest murals on the west coast including the Naat’sa’maat unity wall project on the Ogden Point Breakwater as well as the Rock Bay mural here in Victoria. Jesse also works as a mentor to emerging Indigenous artists and as the Director of Tah’lum Indigenous artists collective.

Cedar Lopatecki

Cedar Lopatecki is an experimental guitarist who draws on a wide range of influences, from blues to classical and ambient music. With endless possibilities, Cedar seeks to explore meaning and thought through the medium of sound. Having grown up on the rural west coast, nature plays a massive role in their life as well as their inspiration, shaping how she approaches her creativity.

Sailing the Salish Sea was released by Adam Dobres on his 2016 album Kin. It is a song of celebration for the land and waters we live on, marvelling at their majesty, playfulness, and beauty. To quote the author himself, “When I play this piece I hope that the listener joins me in imagining and appreciating this magical part of the world.”

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Venue Accessibility

The 900 Johnson Street entrance is wheelchair accessible at street level. There’s a drop-off zone out front, elevator access inside, and several accessible washrooms, including a gender-neutral washroom.

We honour Canoo and Access 2 Passes. For priority seating or other accommodations, contact us in advance.

For full details, visit vcm.bc.ca/plan-your-visit