pinâskiw (“The Season of Falling Leaves”) by Cris Derksen, performed by Junior and Senior Strings.

Описание: For the 2025 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Assembly, the UTS community gathered to reflect, to listen and to recommit ourselves to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

We were deeply honoured to host the world premiere of pinâskiw (“The Season of Falling Leaves”), commissioned by UTS from Juno-nominated cellist and composer Cris Derksen. Cris hails from Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta, with lineage from the Northtall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s.

Derksen reminds us that music is a powerful act of listening: performers listen to one another, the conductor listens deeply to guide and audiences listen to the stories being shared. In that collective act of listening, our heartbeats begin to align: a reminder that we are bound together in our humanity.

The world premiere was performed by UTS Junior Strings and Senior Strings, directed by Lyris Pat and Sarah Shugarman, and conducted by Sarah Shugarman. pinâskiw called us to reflect on cycles of renewal, on hope in dark times and on the shared responsibility we hold for shaping a more just and compassionate future.

Following the assembly, students and staff participated in a guided reflection and sharing activity to mindfully consider our individual and collective roles in building Right Relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. At UTS, we remain committed to listening with empathy, to acknowledging truths and to taking action guided by the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

May we carry that call forward – not just on this day, but always.