Finding Our Connection · Listen to the album
For Your Consideration · Grammy Awards
Every time we press record, we change music history.
Finding Our Connection
Erin Brophey, oboe and English horn
Eleven works. A century of music. Grief, joy, light and belonging.
Thank you for listening and considering Finding Our Connection.
Categories for Consideration
Best Classical Compendium
Best Engineered Album,
Classical
David Houston
Producer, engineer and mastering engineer
Where words fail, we have connection.
My debut recording brings together music for oboe and English horn from 1914 onwards. Landscape. Grief. Light. Belonging. These are pieces that stay with you.
Every composer on this album is someone whose music is rarely recorded. Women, composers of colour, Indigenous and two spirit artists are among them. Several of these works are first recordings. Recording this music makes it part of the story we pass on.
The music reaches from a Parisian salon in 1914 to a farming valley outside Rajkot, from the shingle beaches of Kent to the forest floor of Turtle Island. Made in Saskatoon in June 2025, with a crew drawn almost entirely from the Prairies, the album was recorded on Treaty 6 territory and the Homeland of the Métis Nation.
The music · 22 digital tracks
1. A Farm Amidst Rajkot
Yash Kathrotia 5:58
2. Incantation and Dance
William Grant Still 6:14
3. Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Double Bass
Kendra Harder 5:31
4 to 6. Trois Pièces
Nadia Boulanger Modéré · Sans vitesse et à l’aise · Vite et nerveusement rythmé
7:31
7 to 9. On Walmer Beach
Althea Talbot-Howard Water’s Edge I · Aubade-Interlude · Water’s Edge II
4:54
10 to 12. Three Silhouettes
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Tambourine · Lament · Valse
12:41
13. Double Incantation
Héloïse Werner 3:47
14 to 16. Shizen Suite
Jean Coulthard Wind in the Pines · Meditation Garden · The Temple Festival
8:12
17. Wzhashkwedowens, op. 2
Dylan Pinette 6:38
18 to 20. Chrysalis
Alyssa Morris Caterpillar · Within the Chrysalis · Butterfly
15:57
21. Filigree
Alexina Louie 8:46
22. Laughter
Erin Brophey 0:19
Musicians and recording credits
Erin Brophey, oboe and English horn
Additional musicians: Christina Bakanec, cello; Marie-Noëlle Berthelet, alto flute; Jody Davenport, viola; Kerry DuWors, violin; Troy Morris, double bass; Bonnie Nicholson, piano; Stephanie Unverricht, bassoon; Nova Wong, violin.
Recorded June 2025 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Artistic advisor: Katherine Needleman
Producer, engineer and mastering engineer: David Houston
Assistant engineer: Darrell Bueckert
Album artwork: Claire Perkins
Graphic design: Florencia B. Hauvart
Photography: Julie Isaac
About Erin
Erin Brophey shares the joy of music with audiences across Canada. Principal Oboe of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, she has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia.
A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University and Carnegie Mellon University, Erin is a sessional lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan, Woodwind Coach for the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra and Director of the Oboe Path. Her teaching invites oboists to play with joy and ease.
She has a particular passion for music by women and composers of colour, and for cultural experiences that connect performers and listeners. Erin lives and makes music on Treaty 6 territory, the Homeland of the Métis Nation.
CD and vinyl editions
Finding Our Connection is also available on CD and LP.
LP selection
Side A: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Double Bass · A Farm Amidst Rajkot · Shizen Suite
Side B: Wzhashkwedowens, op. 2 · On Walmer Beach · Filigree