Anang Binesi

Anang Binesi (he/him) explores what it means to engage with Anishinaabe culture and worldviews. Growing up between two musical worlds, he began Western classical piano lessons in grade three while also attending and dancing at powwows with family and friends in his community. Powwow music was participatory and relational: you play with people, not for them. Classical training, by contrast, emphasized precision, individual achievement, and the canon.

At university, courses on music and Indigeneity, and on music and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, led him to question the colonial legacies embedded in music education and the way Western classical traditions are treated as a global standard. That reckoning left him with a question that still guides his work: what does a bridge between these worlds look like, and how can both exist in conversation rather than competition?

and education to musicians, blending Anishinaabe worldviews with contemporary styles to build a bridge between cultural traditions and Western art music. What sets him apart is the ability to honour his roots while challenging the boundaries of the classical canon. His work centres on identity, relationship-building, and the spiritual nature of music, creating new spaces for Indigenous representation in the arts.

He approaches this as lifelong work that involves listening deeply, questioning assumptions, and holding space for both the precision of classical training and the reciprocity of community. He embraces opportunities to attend ceremony and draws inspiration from his culture to guide his artistic journey. Through his blog, Listening Differently, he shares reflections on decolonizing music and music education, inviting musicians and audiences to ask where music comes from, who carries it, and what responsibility we hold to it. As he puts it, "We need to learn how to feel the breath of our instruments and our music, but more importantly we need to learn how to breathe with it."

Anang Binesi is an emerging Anishinaabe percussionist and composer from Rainy River First Nations, Treaty #3 territory in Ontario, currently based in Winnipeg. His compositions include "gashkitaw" (2024) for vibraphone, percussion, viola, flute, and cello; "ninoondawaag niizh mitigoog" (2024) for multi-percussion duo; "waasa izhitigweyaa" (2025) for solo snare and audio playback; and "biidanaamo (vai)" (2025) for flexible ensemble, along with arrangements for marimba and vibraphone.

His experience includes the Banff Classical Indigenous Music Residency and the TORQ percussion seminar (both 2024), the Open Ears Festival (2025), the Astronomical Imagination Residency (2022), and the Canadian Percussion Network's The Space Between V (2026). He has also been part of the Thunder Bay Youth Orchestra, Community Orchestra, and City Band, and Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

He studied percussion performance at Lakehead University (Honours Bachelor of Music) and the University of Western Ontario, and is now continuing his Bachelor of Music at the University of Manitoba.

Anang Binesi speaks only for himself and the teachings he has been given. He is excited about upcoming projects that bring together tradition and innovation, and welcomes new connections.