Winnipeg musician surprises Michaëlle Jean with performance of traditional Creole songs
Posted January 7, 2024 12:41 pm.
Last Updated January 7, 2024 7:12 pm.
A Winnipeg man, originally from Haiti, got the chance to surprise former governor general and fellow Haitian-Canadian Michaëlle Jean with a performance inspired by their homeland.
Wilbert Chancy, 88, who has been in Canada for over 50 years, performed a set Saturday that included traditional Creole songs and spirituals.
The performance was put on specifically for Jean, who was in Winnipeg to speak at a conference for Film Training Manitoba.
“We are very proud, the Haitian diaspora, to have that representation outside the country,” Chancy said.
Chancy’s set was a pleasant surprise for Jean, who sang along.
“I was very moved actually, because some of the songs he sang are songs that I used to sing with my mother,” said the former Governor General. “My favourite one is ‘Fèy O Sove Lavi Mwen’. It’s beautiful. It’s a woman employing natural medicines to save her daughter. It brought me back to so many memories. And then he sang about Jacmel! Jacmel is my mother’s village, you see? So I don’t believe in coincidences.
“It was really a pleasure.”
After the performance, Jean met with Chancy’s family, including his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.
Chancy was born in Haiti but was forced to flee his homeland. He went to France and studied at Sorbonne University, eventually coming to Quebec in 1964 before moving to Winnipeg with his wife, who got a job in Manitoba’s capital.
He was primarily a teacher in Canada; Chancy taught French and Latin at Winnipeg’s St. Mary’s Academy for 16 years before retiring.
Chancy says second career has been as a musician. Three years ago, he recorded an album completely in Creole: “Envitasyon.”
Recently at a recording studio, Chancy met Adam Smoluk, the executive director of Film Training Manitoba. Smoluk, who wanted to do something special for Jean, asked Chancy if he would perform.
The decision to do so proved to be the right one.
“It was fantastic,” Chancy said after the performance. “I liked it, I hope everybody enjoyed it, too. Like me.”
