Classically-Trained Artist Jeremy Dutcher Wins Historic Second Polaris Prize

Jeremy Dutcher won Canada’s top music prize this week. The Indigenous tenor, composer, songwriter, and musicologist is the first artist in history to win the Polaris twice.

Driving the news: On September 17th, Jeremy Dutcher was awarded the Polaris Music Prize for his album Motewolonuwok at Massey Hall in Toronto. The Montreal-based singer-songwriter is a Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) member of the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick. He also won the Polaris in 2018 for his first album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa. Dutcher is the first artist to win the $50,000 CAD award twice.

Playing catch-up: Jeremy Dutcher trained as an operatic tenor, and studied music and anthropology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. His first album incorporated 1907 recordings of traditional songs in Wolastoqey, while his second features a mixture of English and Wolastoqey original songs. Dutcher’s albums work to preserve the Wolastoqey language while fostering inclusivity, reclamation and reconciliation. He has recently collaborated and performed for Yo-Yo Ma, Beverly Glenn Copeland, and Joni Mitchell.

The Polaris Music Prize is selected by an 11-member jury from a shortlist of 10 albums. Previous winners include Feist, Arcade Fire, Buffy Saint-Marie, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Dutcher and his ensemble performed a medley of three songs from Motewolonuwok at the Polaris Gala that’s def worth a watch.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.