{"id":120117,"date":"2025-12-08T13:14:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=120117"},"modified":"2025-12-08T14:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:48:09","slug":"interview-loreena-mckennitt-talks-winters-moon-torontos-koerner-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/12\/08\/interview-loreena-mckennitt-talks-winters-moon-torontos-koerner-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Loreena McKennitt Talks About Under A Winter\u2019s Moon At Toronto\u2019s Koerner Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Multi-instrumentalist,
Multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Loreena McKennitt December 2021, Knox Church, Stratford, Ontario<\/span> (<\/span>Photo: Terry Manzo<\/span> Copyright: Quinlan Road Ltd.)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Loreena McKennitt and friends will take the stage at Toronto\u2019s Koerner Hall on December 13 and 14 for a concert titled Under A Winter\u2019s Moon. The multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter will also be performing in London\u2019s Centennial Hall on December 12; two earlier dates in Stratford are already sold out.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll be performing a program based on her 2022 album of the same name, one that incorporates Welsh and Indigenous storytelling as well as her trademark Celtic music.<\/p>\n

LV spoke to the iconic artist about the concert and music.<\/p>\n

Loreena McKennitt<\/h2>\n

Loreena McKennitt has carved out a unique niche in the music industry with her blend of Celtic folk, pop, and other global music styles. She\u2019s sold more than 14 million albums worldwide that have garnered Gold, Platinum, and multi-Platinum status in 15 countries on four continents. She\u2019s won two JUNO awards, and been nominated for a GRAMMY award twice.<\/p>\n

McKennitt was awarded the Order of Canada in 2004, and was appointed Knight of the National Order of Arts and Letters of the Republic of France in 2013.<\/p>\n

The original 2022 album was based on a series of performances that were recorded live in the JUNO award winning artist\u2019s home base of Stratford, Ontario in December 2021. It features 15 songs along with readings by Gemini Award-winning actor Cedric Smith, and actor Tom Jackson (note: Jackson is not part of the current concert series).<\/p>\n

McKennitt has released an additional two holiday themed tracks on November 21, 2025 to go along with the album, including her version of the Christmas favourite Silent Night, and the English song The King, a celebration of the New Year.<\/p>\n

Loreena McKennitt: The Interview<\/h3>\n

The 2022 album, and the 2021 performances, came out of the COVID pandemic experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, this was a kind of cabin fever type of project,\u201d McKennitt says. \u201cA feeling like we wanted to do something. We wanted something to happen at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eclectic program of music and storytelling, surprisingly, was largely a product of happenstance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quickly put together this miscellany of spoken word, and traditional carols, and some less familiar carols that I had recorded in 1987,\u201d Loreena recalls. She remembers performing to half capacity audiences who wore masks.<\/p>\n

The album itself was also largely a chance occurrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe record our performances whether they go on to a commercial release or not,\u201d she explains. Once McKennitt and her team heard the results, however, they realized it would make a great memento of the occasion, and the season.<\/p>\n

\"Multi-instrumentalist,
Multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Loreena McKennitt and friends in concert December 2021, Knox Church, Stratford, Ontario<\/span> (<\/span>Photo: Terry Manzo<\/span> Copyright: Quinlan Road Ltd.)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Blend of Celtic, Welsh & Indigenous<\/h3>\n

\u201cThere is a carol from Ireland that goes back two centuries,\u201d she says of the repertoire. Another, The Wexford Carol, dates back to the 12th century.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken a keen interest in Indigenous culture for quite a number of years,\u201d McKennitt adds. In 1989, she released an album called Parallel Worlds, which also incorporated Indigenous music. \u201cAt that time I was reflecting and ruminating on the relationship that the Celts had with the natural world,\u201d she explains. That led to discovering links with global Indigenous cultures.<\/p>\n

Ojibway artist Christin Dennis, also known as Gzhiiquot\/Fast Moving Cloud, opens the concert with his performance of the story Skywoman.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Indigenous side of things, we drew upon the Skywoman story, which is essentially the Indigenous birth story of Turtle Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ojibway artist and flautist Jeffrey \u2018Red\u2019 George will also play and tell stories during the concert\u2019s first half. \u201cWe also invited Jeffrey George […] to play flute and also reflect on his winter memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actor Cedric Smith, perhaps best known for his role of Alec King in Road to Avonlea, will perform Dylan Thomas\u2019s A Child\u2019s Christmas in Wales in six parts, interspersed with music during the second half of the concert.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Welsh side of course is the Dylan Thomas, the wonderful story of A Child\u2019s Christmas in Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blend of music and spoken word was a first for Loreena back in 2021. \u201cTrying to bring a bit more of the spoken word and stories into the seasonal experience,\u201d she says. \u201cThis was a chemistry experiment,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s not like anything I\u2019ve seen before. It wasn\u2019t intuitive. It has some kind of anchoring in certainly what I\u2019ve done, and what I\u2019m interested in,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a small town in Manitoba in the 60s, and I really relate to A Child\u2019s Christmas in Wales.\u201d It struck a chord with her, growing up with similar holiday celebrations that involved big family gatherings.<\/p>\n

Storytelling is an element that has more and more poignancy in the modern day, she believes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the storytelling does become really important especially in an era where things move so fast.\u201d She notes that the realities of kids today are vastly different than when she grew up. \u201cIt can be informative for people to [become] exposed to stories that are so very different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stories like Thomas\u2019 holiday classic, as she points out, involve human agency \u2014 skating, making food together, and so on. It offers modern audiences an alternative to their lives in the contemporary landscape.\u201cIt seems to be more and more usurped by spectator technical options.\u201d<\/p>\n