JEREMY DUTCHER is a classically trained tenor, Two-Spirit song carrier, polymuse, activist, ethnomusicologist, and member of Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) in Eastern Canada. The only person ever to have won Canada’s Polaris Prize twice, Jeremy performs at Neuadd Ogwen in Bethesda on Saturday 20th October and the Welfare in Ystradgynlais on Sunday 21st October.
The visit marks a return to Wales following a trip in 2019 during UNESCO’s Year of Endangered Indigenous Languages. During the post-performance Q&A for that visit,, Dutcher, struck by the Welsh commitment to our language, remarked, “If you can aim for a million speakers of Welsh, I can aim for a thousand speakers of Wolastoqey.” An endangered Algonquian language, Wolastoqey has only a few fluent speakers remaining.
Dedicated to language revitalization, Jeremy’s debut album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa unearthed century-old archival recordings of his ancestors, turning them into collaborative compositions on the grand piano. Sung entirely in Wolastoqey, his endangered mother tongue, it would go on to win the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and lead to collaborations with such iconic artists as Yo-Yo Ma and Leslie Feist.
His sophomore album Motewolonuwok ᒣᑌᐧᐁᓓᓄᐧᐁᒃ was awarded the 2024 Polaris Music Prize, making Jeremy the first ever two-time winner. Jeremy’s music transcends boundaries: unapologetically playful in its incorporation of classical and jazz influences, full of reverence for the traditional songs of his home, and teeming with the urgency of modern-day resistance.
He is regularly sought out for his perspectives on queerness, Indigeneity, language revitalization, and fashion – having even been a guest judge on Canadian Drag Race!
Links to listen to Jeremy’s haunting music can be found on his website: https://jeremydutcher.com/. Tickets for his performances at Neuadd Ogwen and the Welfare can be found on the venue websites (www.neuaddogwen.com & www.thewelfare.co.uk)