By Jane Puchniak | @janepuchniak | August 24, 2021 | 6:00am
Eight-time international award-winning Mezzo-Soprano vocalist, Rhonda Head, is the official recipient of two Global Music Awards for a pair of her most celebrated songs. Judged by Emmy and Grammy Award-winning artists, Head’s impactful anthem, 500 Years, received a Bronze Medal in the Protest Music category. The lyrics share her emotional journey, moving through the pain of being an intergenerational Residential School Survivor.
““The song dives into the pain of that experience, for me and for all of my people that have endured ‘500 years of pain. But the song also shows our incredible resilience and how we are finally coming together, all of humanity, to love and to be kind to one another, despite our differences and our past.””
Recorded with the Prague Orchestra, Head’s fan-favourite Kisahkihitin I Love You, also landed a Bronze Medal in the Contemporary Classical category. This recognition adds to her lengthy list of milestones including singing at New York’s Carnegie Hall (2016) and Lincoln Center (2014), judging the GRAMMY Awards regional roots category and attending the Los Angeles award show (2020), and sitting as a Board Member at Canada’s largest rights management organization, SOCAN.
“Rhonda shines with her fans and also as a leader in the North American music industry,” says JUNO Award-winning rock icon and band leader of Eagle & Hawk, Vince Fontaine. “Rhonda has trained and performed internationally. Her lyrics touch the soul. She is an intergenerational Residential School Survivor. She is an inspiration in so many ways and continues to be a voice and a beacon.”
The Global Music Awards accepts worldwide submissions and throughout its tenure, the competition has recognized artists from 75 countries. Rhonda Head is the first female Indigenous mezzo-soprano vocalist to receive this accolade.