Get ready Iqaluit — APTN plans free concert June 22

Sinuupa, the stage name used by musician Etua Snowball of Kuujjuaq, plays at the recent Puvirnituq Snow Festival. Sinuupa is set to perform June 22 at a free concert in Iqaluit to be broadcast live on APTN. (FILE PHOTO)

Saina, a Yakutsk singer from Yakutia in Siberia, will perform June 22 at a free concert to be held at the Arctic Winter Games arena. (FILE PHOTO)

The Aboriginal People’s Television Network plans a big event for Iqaluit this June 22: a free concert at the Arctic Winter Games arena.

The show, to be broadcast live on APTN and APTN HD along with a similar concert to be held in Winnipeg, will feature some of the biggest names in Inuit and Aboriginal music.

Madeleine Allakariallak of Iqaluit will co-host the Iqaluit performances with Don Kelly, a star of the APTN series Fish Out of Water.

In Winnipeg, Derek Miller and Michelle Thrush, star of the APTN series Blackstone, will co-host the main-stage performances.

The Iqaluit concert at the AWG is free and open to people of all ages.

The Iqaluit line-up will include:

• Artcirq: an youth collective featuring theatre, music, video and circus arts with traditional and modern Inuit performance styles;

• Kathia Rock: an Innu singer-songwriter whose warm voice delivers melodies drawing upon her people’s ancestral repertoire and contemporary music;

• Leela Gilday: a passionate, soulful, singer-songwriter from Yellowknife. Her lyrics, reflective of her northern roots, embrace the essence of Dene life from an urban perspective;

• Nelson Tagoona: multi-talented musician and throat-boxer (a blend of traditional Inuit throat-singing and hip-hop beat-boxing) from Baker Lake;

• Saali: a singer-songwriter from Nunavik. His vocal range, passion for music, and gentle personality come together in a powerful performance;

• Saina: a Yakutsk singer from the Siberian region of Yakutia, who will take you on an enthralling journey back in time among the indigenous peoples of Siberia;

• Sinuupa: the stage name used by Etua Snowball of Kuujjuaq. His latest and third album Culture Shock was voted Best Rock CD by the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards; and

• Susan Aglukark: a celebrated singer-songwriter, she’s one of Nunavut’s best-known and honoured performers.