Composer

Tanya Tagaq

May 5, 1975

“Tagaq doesn’t so much sing as plug herself into the Earth.” – Pitchfork From Nunavut, Tanya Tagaq is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and author. A member of the Order of Canada, a Polaris Music Prize and JUNO Award winner and recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, Tagaq is an original disruptor, a world-changing figure at the forefront of seismic social, political and environmental change. In its many forms, Tagaq’s art challenges static ideas of genre and culture, and contends with themes of Indigenous Rights, colonialism, environmentalism, racism and violence against women and girls, in particular MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls). Tagaq’s bestselling, award-winning debut novel, Split Tooth, has been translated into German and French. A full-length feature documentary on Tanya’s life, career and art is currently in production. Split Tooth on stage, a collaboration with Kaneza Schaal and Christopher Myers, is scheduled to debut in Dusseldorf and BAM in 2021. Tagaq has collaborated and recorded with Saul Williams, Kronos Quartet, Bjork, A Tribe Called Red, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Fucked Up and more. She has composed pieces for the Kronos Quartet and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and created a sound installation for the National Maritime Museum in London. Tagaq has performed at many prestigious international festivals, including Dark Mofo, Bonnaroo, Big Ears, the Helsinki Festival, Aarhus and many more, and venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. From CBS’s 60 Minutes to NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Guardian and more, Tagaq’s music and writing has been covered by major publications in the USA, UK, Europe and beyond.