Tanya Tagaq

Person

Tanya Tagaq

Sound 51 May 5, 1975

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada

“Tagaq doesn’t so much sing as plug herself into the Earth.” – Pitchfork From Nunavut, Tanya Tagaq is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and author. A member of the…

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“Tagaq doesn’t so much sing as plug herself into the Earth.” – Pitchfork From Nunavut, Tanya Tagaq is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and author. A member of the Order of Canada, a Polaris Music Prize and JUNO Award winner and recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, Tagaq is an original disruptor, a world-changing figure at the forefront of seismic social, political and environmental change. In its many forms, Tagaq’s art challenges static ideas of genre and culture, and contends with themes of Indigenous Rights, colonialism, environmentalism, racism and violence against women and girls, in particular MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls). Tagaq’s bestselling, award-winning debut novel, Split Tooth, has been translated into German and French. A full-length feature documentary on Tanya’s life, career and art is currently in production. Split Tooth on stage, a collaboration with Kaneza Schaal and Christopher Myers, is scheduled to debut in Dusseldorf and BAM in 2021. Tagaq has collaborated and recorded with Saul Williams, Kronos Quartet, Bjork, A Tribe Called Red, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Fucked Up and more. She has composed pieces for the Kronos Quartet and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and created a sound installation for the National Maritime Museum in London. Tagaq has performed at many prestigious international festivals, including Dark Mofo, Bonnaroo, Big Ears, the Helsinki Festival, Aarhus and many more, and venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. From CBS’s 60 Minutes to NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Guardian and more, Tagaq’s music and writing has been covered by major publications in the USA, UK, Europe and beyond.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2025
    North of North

    TV show Nuliajuq

  2. 2022
    Ever Deadly

    Movie Self

  3. 2021
    Bootlegger

    Movie Original Music Composer

  4. 2021
    Teeth Agape

    Movie Music

  5. 2019
    There's Something in the Water

    Movie Musician

  6. 2018
    I Was Here

    Movie Music

  7. 2016
    Searchers

    Movie Music

  8. 2015
    Mobilize

    Movie Music

  9. 2014
    True Detective

    TV show Doula

  10. 2011
    Sirmilik

    Movie

  11. 2011
  12. 2009
    Tungijuq

    Movie

  13. 2004
    Rides - André Malby

    Movie Musician

  14. From Rome to Dakar

    Movie Nana