A Sense Of Connection

by Jennifer Stephen

The first time I felt how powerfully music can bring people together was in high school, at Sir John Franklin in Yellowknife. Our meagre school band, all ten or so of us, had a trip planned to the community of Łutselk’e, population three hundred, on the east arm of Great Slave Lake. We boarded a plane on Yellowknife Bay in the middle of winter and took a very bumpy ride along with our band director and instruments: a few saxophones and trumpets, flutes, drums, and my tuba. As we neared our desti- nation all we could see was the frozen lake and a few trees, behind which stood the buildings that made up Łutselk’e.

We landed on the frozen lake and were greeted by a welcoming committee of men and women with snowmobiles. We all piled onto snowmobiles and rode through the snow to the local school. There we played a concert in the gym with what felt like the entire community in attendance. As a young adult I couldn’t believe how generous our hosts were with their time and how much they appreciated what we were bringing to them. For those few hours I felt I was a part of their community as well as my own.

Fast-forward a couple of years and the roles were reversed. I attended my first orchestral concert as a teenager. The touring orchestra had planned to perform at our local arts and culture centre, but it was too small to accommodate their numbers. Instead, the gym was draped with black fabric, the bleachers were pulled out, and we concertgoers piled in to witness what for us was a rare and extremely welcome experience. I have no recollection of what music the orchestra played, but I do remember being in awe of the sound of so many instruments together, and the power of the sound the ensemble produced. Once again, I was struck at how people will come together around music, to experience it not only as individuals but also together, as a community. It was an incredibly powerful experience, and one that I have carried with me ever since.

Growing up in a fairly isolated city, these two experiences helped give me a sense of connection to those outside, as we shared in the impact of the musical experiences together. For those few hours, not only did our paths cross, we were also on the same journey. Today, when I sit in the audience of a concert, or when I am on stage myself playing, I am still struck by that sharing of the journey. It’s a big reason why I ended up choosing the career and path that I did.

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Jennifer Stephen is originally from Yellowknife and now lives in Toronto, where she teaches and plays the tuba with groups such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra, the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Esprit Orchestra, and the Hamilton Philharmonic. She is on faculty at the National Music Camp of Canada and the Royal Conservatory of Music.