The Kluane Compositions Music Film Premiere
WHITEHORSE, YT – What do a grand piano, kilometer-deep ice fields and Canada’s highest mountains have in common? Quite a lot, if you’re talking about an epic 13-minute music film being released by musicians Diyet van Lieshout and Matthew Lien.
The film features original music by Diyet and Lien, and a grand piano which was airlifted into Kluane National Park and Reserve in Canada’s Yukon Territory – home to Canada’s highest mountains. The two musicians were the recipients of a $125,000 grant from the Yukon government for their Kluane Compositions film, one of three projects funded to celebrate the territory’s 125th anniversary.
The Yukon 125 Prize was an initiative by the Yukon government’s Department of Tourism to “inspire the next generation of Yukoners to be bold and creative and to entice others to experience the magic of this place,” according to the government’s news release. 93 proposals were adjudicated by a selection committee “comprising a range of community members from across the territory.” The Kluane Compositions received the grand prize which contributed the bulk of funding for the film.
Lien conceived the idea forty years ago, to create a song for Kluane National Park where he grew up, and then airlift a grand piano into the park for a music video, “I recorded the song, Kluane, but I was too young and inexperienced really pull the whole thing off,” says Lien. “And I’m glad I waited.”
In collaboration with Diyet, a member of the Kluane First Nation, the original idea was expanded to feature three movements for the three distinct ecosystems of Kluane Park, and dual story lines about the splendour of water and ice from the perspective of an observer (Lien), and the spirit of the Land (Diyet).
“I see The Kluane Compositions not only as creating art in a beautiful environment, but also as an act of rebellion, of assertion, of relationship and of reconciliation,” says Diyet. “It is meant to challenge the concept of colonization and ownership. It is meant to bring awareness to our rapidly changing environment. It is meant to bring understanding that our language and people have a rightful place in Kluane and create a bold statement that we have a serious and immediate responsibility to care for ‘Ásì Keyi’ as if it were everyone’s grandfather.”
To achieve their vision, a grand piano needed to be airlifted by helicopter into ice fields near the Yukon/Alaska border, the glacial fore-fields, and the lush front ranges of the Park.
The project seems to have captured the imagination of the public. “Everyone’s been so supportive,” says Lien. “Each time someone stops me on the street and excitedly asks about it, I know it’s been worth the effort.”
The Kluane Compositions will premiere on May 27th at 6:00 PM for a special one-time screening at the Yukon Visitor Information Centre in Whitehorse, and will be available for viewing online soon after.