White Raven Throatsingers

" “Masters and shamans” was the theme of the third day of the ninth Cross-Culture Warsaw Festival, Friday, September 27th. The evening started with Concert of Champions featuring on stage the artists that leding this year’s workshops: Inuit Charlotte Qamaniq and Kathleen Merritt – specialist in throat singing; the dancers Kemar Kennedy and Lawrence Kershaw from New Zealand; Sofien Zaidi musician and singer of Djerba; Irishman John Joe Kelly on bodhran and virtuoso Carmelo Salemi playing a shepherd’s flute.
The second event of the evening was the performance by Lindigo, who mix traditional music from the island of Reunion with funk and reggae." - World Music Central

"Michaëlle Jean and Jean Daniel Lafond, co-Presidents of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, voiced their admiration of the hundreds of youth artists working across the country to plan creative events in their communities for National Youth Arts Week, stating that in doing so young people are using the arts as “weapons of mass construction”. National Youth Arts Week Community Coordinators Gabrielle Mauffette from St-Jérôme Québec and Christine Dewancker from Kingston Ontario described the amazing multitude of events they are seeing spring up in their communities and others across the country.

The night was MCd by CTV Reporter Stefan Keyes with performances by throat singing duo Charlotte Qamaniq and Kathleen Merritt; spoken word artists from the Ottawa Youth Poetry Slam; a hip hop dance troupe from Carleton University; and an acoustic set by rising Montreal band M.T.L. Attendees then mixed and mingled to sweet beats being dropped by DJ Memetic. Beautiful artwork by youth artists Allan André and Callan Ponsford was also on display."

- NYAW

"Nunavut-born throatsinger Charlotte Qamaniq-Mason and Montreal musician Daybi of Tumivut perform on stage at the Westfest festival in Ottawa last June. Tumivut will be performing in Iqaluit as part of Alianait's concert series on Sept. 9." - News North Services (nnsl)

"Tumivut, a nationally acclaimed band that features two Nunavut throat singers, played their first concert ever in Iqaluit Sept. 9, part of the Alianait music festival’s series of concerts in the city.

“This is really huge for us,” said Tumivut singer Charlotte Qamaniq-Mason, who is originally from Igloolik but who spent much of her childhood in Iqaluit. “It’s one thing to perform in front of hundreds of people who have no idea who you are, but it’s another thing to perform in front of people who know you and your whole family.”" - Nunatsiaq News

"It’s light out at two in the morning and there’s snow on the ground in July (well, briefly, at least) in Iqaluit, Nunavut, where the recent Alianait Arts Festival was an eye-opening window into Northern culture and arts (“Alianait” is an Inuktitut expression of celebration, like “huzzah!”). Alison Broverman trekked north of the treeline last week to check out the festival and meet a few talented Northern artists … and returned south with an unexpected love of throat singing and a deep appreciation for Canada’s youngest territory. Here are a few of the people she encountered along the way"...."The Calgary-born Starr, who made her name with a unique blend of hip-hop and new wave rock music, was also visiting the north for the first time (she has a new album coming out in August), and was enchanted by the landscape, not to mention the tap water.

“It tastes like icicles,” she said.

Starr was keen to incorporate the local culture into her performance, so throat singer Kathleen Merritt joined her onstage for a haunting duet that blended the traditional — Merritt’s throat singing — and the modern — Starr’s electronic musical gadgetry." - The National Post

Nelson Tagoona (right) performs with Charlotte Qamaniq and Kathleen Merritt during an event at the National Arts Centre Monday February 25, 2013 in Ottawa. The National Arts Centre is bringing the North to the South this spring with a 10-day festival featuring northern artists, musicians, singers, chefs, writers and storytellers who blend the traditional with the contemporary. - THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

"Imagine. Throat-singers in your classroom, learning about composing music from a real composer, and creating a piece blending throat-singing and orchestral music that will be performed by the NAC Orchestra. If I was 15—and I was a true band person then—I would have been in heaven. The session started with a demonstration by Nancy and Kathleen. The students listened closely to the women’s intense, rhythmic, primal sounds." - National Arts Centre