Tanya Kalmanovitch, musician and New England Conservatory professor, grew up in the early industrial mining days of Canada’s Athabasca Oil Sands, which has since grown into one of the world’s largest industrial projects. For many years, Kalmanovitch used music as an escape from the oil and gas baron reality of homelife in Fort McMurray. However, when clashes over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline made national front-page news, Kalmanovitch realized it was time to turn her music into an instrument for change. She began bringing stories of Fort McMurray together, speaking to Indigenous elders, activists, engineers, oil patch workers, and members of her own family. From the stories she gathered, including her own, she created the Tar Sands Songbook, weaving oil, climate, and music into one. Photo credit: Tanya Kalmanovitch
