Mary Itorcheak has been playing accordion professionally for about eight years, beginning when she was 16 years old.
"When I first picked up the accordion, I just couldn't stop," she said before going on stage with the Takuginai Puppets at the Alianait Festival as one of the first acts on July 6. She recalls visiting a relative with her grandmother and needing to go home immediately to grab her new instrument because of a tingling feeling in her fingers that only stopped when she had her hands on the keys.
"I guess my namesake [Mary Peters] wanted me to play," she said.
On stage, she banters with a beaver puppet before going through the alphabet with the children in the audience who have come to see the dual act. She then plays an instrumental number for them, and sings the lyrics in Inuktitut — not pausing for a beat when one of the prop kettles falls off the stage from the rhythm.
"For right now," says Itorcheak, "I'm doing it because I love it. I want to share with everyone else. The music is still with me. It brings me joy and I want others to feel the same. I haven't stopped, and I don't plan on stopping. I'm hoping that when I'm an old granny I'll still play. It's been part of our family for a long time."
