With True North (Original Motion Picture Score), Milne takes another inspiring step along his singular path.

Catching up with the two-time JUNO Award-winning composer in Ann Arbor, Michigan one month later, Milne shares a few reasons why Canadiana Suite matters.

As a Canadian jazz pianist and composer — not to mention someone with a personal connection to the man — it may seem that Peterson’s influence is a given. But Milne says he hopes to “highlight maybe the more unusual ways that central cultural and artistic figures” influence people and communities.

Being at a large research university like Michigan means Milne can continue to explore cross-disciplinary creativity, all in a town he finds welcoming and easy to navigate.

It was the fall of 2017 and the lauded jazz pianist, professor and composer had just finished recording The Seasons of Being, his most ambitious work to date. A musical suite based on the diagnostic principles of homeopathic healing as tailored to its individual musicians, it was the culmination of the music-as-remedy theory Milne had been working on for nearly a decade. He was elated. Then doctors told him he had been living with prostate cancer the whole time.

“Andy Milne has been a favorite of mine for years. I’m still pinching myself that he agreed to join our series.”

“Milne’s recent and upcoming projects include experiments with small group improvising and composed orchestral music…”