Rosanna Deerchild chronicles “The Return of the Ojibwe Spirit Horse” in this episode of Unreserved, the CBC’s national radio space for Indigenous voices. Scroll to the 21-minute mark for her interviews about “The Spirit Horse Returns”.

Excitement for The Spirit Horse Returns performance reaches global scale

Rhonda Snow, visual director and artist for The Spirit Horse Returns
Artist Rhonda Snow
Songwriter/Narrator Jodi Contin
At the 2019 Gchi Dewin Indigenous Storytellers' Festival in Parry Sound, Rhonda, Jodi, and Ken first led workshops that would become "The Spirit Horse Returns."
Rhonda, Ken, and Jodi at the Spirit Horse workshop
In their traditional territories once more, these Ojibwe Horses are being led by Jodi Contin on a spirit walk for the whole community in Parry Sound.
Jodi leads a Spirit Walk with the Ojibwe Horses
At the Spirit Horse workshop in Wasauksing First Nation in 2021, composers Andrew Balfour and Kevin Lau play the draft sketches that will become the full orchestra score for "The Spirit Horse Returns."
Composers Andrew Balfour and Kevin Lau
Young musicians of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Sistema Program play along with the WSO at the premiere of "The Spirit Horse Returns" in March 2022.
Guest fiddlers from Sistema Winnipeg
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra takes a bow after the premiere of "The Spirit Horse Returns" in March 2021. Guest soloists included musicians from Sistema Winnipeg, fiddling duo "Double the Trouble". Narrators Jodi Contin and Ken MacDonald are joined onstage by consulting Elder Alison Cox, composer Kevin Lau, artist Rhonda Snow, and conductor Naomi Woo.
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra premiere
Image from the final scene of "The Spirit Horse Returns" with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gemma New, 2022.
Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra
Image of "The Girl in the Snowstorm" from "The Spirit Horse Returns" with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Holly Mathieson, April 2023. Photo: James Wu Studio, courtesy of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony