Loreena’s songwriting honoured
‘Music can make us better, fill our hearts and enrich our souls’
Loreena was delighted to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in Toronto on March 8th, International Women’s Day. During the ceremony, she performed “Stolen Child”, accompanied by Brian Hughes on guitar and Hugh Marsh on violin. Hall of Fame chairman of the board, Stan Meissner, described her as “a storyteller who can weave through eras, cultures, and transcend boundaries.”
Left to right: Brittany Ralph (CSHF Events & Program Coordinator), Stan Meissner (CSHF Chairman), Loreena McKennitt, Cheryl Link (Sr. Creative Dir. peermusic Canada and CSHF Board Member) and Nick Fedor (CSHF Director). (Photo: Mark McCauley)
In her acceptance speech Loreena told the audience, “Music is so often a force for good. Sure, at one level it’s a lot of fun. For each of us it’s a soundtrack to our lives. It can make us better. It can fill our hearts and enrich our souls. That is music at its best.”
Listen: Just before the induction ceremony, Loreena spoke with CBC Manitoba host Julie Dupre and talked about her process of songwriting and how the history, geography and traditions of the Celts are her creative springboard. She also revealed how the international hit single “The Mummers’ Dance” almost didn’t get finished.
Read: In an interview with writer Karen Bliss of Zoomer magazine, a Canadian publication both online and in print, Loreena discusses, among other things, the ways in which gender and ageism has – and has not – impacted her career.
media coverage
CBC Music: Loreena McKennitt: Canada’s unexpected godmother of DIY music
FYI Music News: Loreena McKennitt To Enter The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Winnipeg Free Press: McKennitt shocked, honoured at award
SOCAN Magazine: Loreena McKennitt to be inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame