A song written with love for life
Riit and MisterLee coach Cambridge Bay students
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Monday, June 19, 2017
IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
Music of Life was brought to life in Cambridge Bay earlier this month.
Rita Claire Mike-Murphy, also know as Riit, and MisterLee Cloutier-Ellsworth pose in front of Kiilinik High School's mural while visiting to support Cambridge Bay students in writing an original song. - photo courtesy of Alison Corbett |
A dozen students in grades 10 and 11 at Kiilinik High School composed the upbeat song with the support of established musical artists MisterLee Cloutier-Ellsworth of Iqaluit and Rita Claire Mike-Murphy of Pangnirtung.
Audio file: Music of Life
Together, they worked on the song for an hour per day over three days. The students wrote the lyrics and music and they played the instruments, Kiilinik music teacher Alison Corbett said.
There wasn't enough time for any of the students to memorize the rap in its entirety, so that portion was turned over to MisterLee while the youth sang the chorus for the recording.
Tristian Peterson, who's in Grade 10, was one of the students who memorized those lines. He recited them with ease:
"I love my life,
I love my friends,
I love my family,
And I love my pets.
I love my community,
I love going camping,
I love what's changing,
and I love what's happening."
Peterson's not done listening to Music of Life either. He plans to download the one-minute-and-forty-seven-second song to his phone so it's on his playlist.
He said he enjoyed working collaboratively with his peers and the artists, and he loves the final product.
Mike-Murphy, who goes by the stage name Riit, recalled that she went to summer music camps years ago and she also attended music workshops hosted by Iqaluit's Andrew Morrison of the The Jerry Cans. So she knows music can inspire youth, even if it takes a while for a few of them to gain confidence.
"Some of them were very shy, but a lot of them were very eager and excited to learn," she said of the Cambridge Bay students.
Corbett, who helped organize the project with backing from the National Arts Centre's Music Alive program, said of the lyrics: "My students said ... we'd like to do something positive, about the things you can do to feel better about life and focusing on the things you love."
Corbett added that she was impressed by the vocal demonstration that MisterLee and Riit gave to the students.
"He does beat-boxing and Rita Claire does the throat-singing, so together they were doing throat-boxing," Corbett said.
Riit was also in Kugluktuk recently to help students there create a song. They decided to examine relationship abuse - also delving into mental, emotional, physical and substance abuse - with their song this time after composing an anti-suicide message last year.
"I was really impressed because it's something that's not easy to open up about," Riit said.
"They did write a really powerful song."
