Every year at Christmas, a choir comes together in St. John’s to celebrate centuries-old traditions and music that are both close to their hearts and from a land far away.
Inuk soprano Deantha Edmunds, who leads the Urban Inuit Choir, teaches the hymns that Nunatsiavimuit have sung for more than 200 years in northern Labrador.
The choir first came together in 2021 and was developed with the creative vision of Edmunds, an acclaimed performer whose talnents have brought her to international stages.
This project brings her close to her roots. With help from community elders and researchers, Edmunds has spent the last three years researching and revitalizing the Christmas hymns and traditions from Labrador’s Inuit and the Moravian church.
“Just over 250 years ago, Moravian missionaries came from Europe, mainly Germany, and settled along the North Coast of Labrador. While …