Submitted by Sheryl Spencer
When Jeff Bird was studying music at the University of Guelph in the 1970s, he fell in love with medieval and renaissance music. After graduating, he discovered the sublime music of the twelfth-century German mystic Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). Bird says this was music “on a whole other level” compared to that of her contemporaries. No wonder Bird was captivated by this unusually gifted woman, who was obviously ahead of her time. Known these days most often by just her first name, Hildegard has been called a “ferocious, blazing star of light.” She founded two female-run monasteries, independent from the Benedictine brothers with whom she was raised. She corresponded with European leaders of her time – popes, statesmen and emperors. She conducted preaching tours and founded the study of scientific natural history in Germany. Her composition “Ordo Virtutum” is possibly the first-ever recorded morality play set to music in Western history, and she also wrote almost eighty other musical compositions.
Perhaps the attraction between Bird and Hildegard comes from the fact that Jeff Bird is also a multi-disciplinary artist and thinker. Though Bird is mainly known for his association with the Cowboy Junkies, a Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band, and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with the band in 2019, he is also a composer, producer, experimental filmmaker and performance artist. As a multi-instrumentalist, Jeff plays electric and acoustic bass, electric and acoustic mandolin, fiddle, piano, keyboards, guitar, harmonica, percussion, various wind instruments, theremin, taisho goto, zhong ruan, and vocals. He has been called a fearless explorer of the sonic and visual landscape.
On April 18 at 4:00 p.m. at Tobermory United Church, Jeff Bird will present his interpretations of the music from Hildegard’s morality play, “Ordo Virtutum,” as well as many of her other compositions. The instruments that Bird has chosen for this work are electric guitar, harmonica and a shruti box, an instrument that is adapted from pump organs brought to India by Christian missionaries. Hildegard’s music, Bird maintains, “is all about breathing, it . . . comes in waves like breath.” The pieces, whose titles come directly from words from Hildegard’s play – “Angelic Companions,” “The Soul Complains,” “Fairest Warrior” – are very meditative in nature. Even the silence between them, Bird says, is important. A media release celebrating the release of Bird’s “Ordo Virtutum” in the summer of 2025, reads, “Reimagining sacred sound through a contemporary lens, Jeff Bird’s arrangements strike a balance between reverence and reinvention. Quietly stirring, this recording is a ritual of breath, tone, and time - a powerful call to presence.”
Bird, who hiked the Bruce trail from Dyer’s Bay to Tobermory many years ago, and who has returned in the meantime for ferry crossings, is looking forward to bringing his interpretations of this captivating visionary mystic to the intimate space of Tobermory United’s sanctuary. Donations will be accepted at the door, and a Q and A and reception will follow the 65-minute concert. CDs, as well as information on Hildegard von Bingen, will also be available.
Tobermory United Church is thrilled to be able to offer this extraordinary concert, and is grateful for the assistance of a Mission Support grant from the United Church of Canada.
Submitted by Sheryl Spencer
When Jeff Bird was studying music at the University of Guelph in the 1970s, he fell in love with medieval and renaissance music. After graduating, he discovered the sublime music of the twelfth-century German mystic Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). Bird says this was music “on a whole other level” compared to that of her contemporaries. No wonder Bird was captivated by this unusually gifted woman, who was obviously ahead of her time. Known these days most often by just her first name, Hildegard has been called a “ferocious, blazing star of light.” She founded two female-run monasteries, independent from the Benedictine brothers with whom she was raised. She corresponded with European leaders of her time – popes, statesmen and emperors. She conducted preaching tours and founded the study of scientific natural history in Germany. Her composition “Ordo Virtutum” is possibly the first-ever recorded morality play set to music in Western history, and she also wrote almost eighty other musical compositions.
Perhaps the attraction between Bird and Hildegard comes from the fact that Jeff Bird is also a multi-disciplinary artist and thinker. Though Bird is mainly known for his association with the Cowboy Junkies, a Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band, and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with the band in 2019, he is also a composer, producer, experimental filmmaker and performance artist. As a multi-instrumentalist, Jeff plays electric and acoustic bass, electric and acoustic mandolin, fiddle, piano, keyboards, guitar, harmonica, percussion, various wind instruments, theremin, taisho goto, zhong ruan, and vocals. He has been called a fearless explorer of the sonic and visual landscape.
On April 18 at 4:00 p.m. at Tobermory United Church, Jeff Bird will present his interpretations of the music from Hildegard’s morality play, “Ordo Virtutum,” as well as many of her other compositions. The instruments that Bird has chosen for this work are electric guitar, harmonica and a shruti box, an instrument that is adapted from pump organs brought to India by Christian missionaries. Hildegard’s music, Bird maintains, “is all about breathing, it . . . comes in waves like breath.” The pieces, whose titles come directly from words from Hildegard’s play – “Angelic Companions,” “The Soul Complains,” “Fairest Warrior” – are very meditative in nature. Even the silence between them, Bird says, is important. A media release celebrating the release of Bird’s “Ordo Virtutum” in the summer of 2025, reads, “Reimagining sacred sound through a contemporary lens, Jeff Bird’s arrangements strike a balance between reverence and reinvention. Quietly stirring, this recording is a ritual of breath, tone, and time – a powerful call to presence.”
Bird, who hiked the Bruce trail from Dyer’s Bay to Tobermory many years ago, and who has returned in the meantime for ferry crossings, is looking forward to bringing his interpretations of this captivating visionary mystic to the intimate space of Tobermory United’s sanctuary. Donations will be accepted at the door, and a Q and A and reception will follow the 65-minute concert. CDs, as well as information on Hildegard von Bingen, will also be available.
Tobermory United Church is thrilled to be able to offer this extraordinary concert, and is grateful for the assistance of a Mission Support grant from the United Church of Canada.
