Kingston musicians raise awareness for gender-based violence at city hall performance tonight

By Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist & Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

A special performance of the song suite, Have You Seen My Sister?, focusing on eastern Ontario victims of gender-based violence, will take place at Kingston City Hall tonight in anticipation of International Women’s Day later this week (March 8).

Kingston musician and the suite’s composer Aruna Antonella Handa will be joined by Queen’s vocal ensemble The Caledonias and Michael Broadhead on upright bass to perform the suite. There will also be two additional pieces, including a premiere of a song by Aruna about Métis artist Jaime Black, creator of the REDress project.

Last fall, in the same week that Kingston City Council declared intimate partner violence an epidemic in the region, a recording of selections from the Have You Seen My Sister? song cycle was nominated Single of the Year for the Canadian Folk Music Awards. 

"For us, as The Caledonias, being able to do music and sing, it means a lot to us," stated Alesha Stevenson, member of The Caledonias. "And yes, it's fun and it's like, this is what we love to do, but I think we also love to perform at events such as this one and ones we've done in the past, such as the December 6th Memorial, because they mean a lot more to us. They are affecting us in our daily lives all the time. Through music and have an audience and the community kind of be able to just look at us and be able to also share in that emotion is a really important connection to make."

The event is free to attend, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of city hall.