EDMONTON – Jordan Kaminski always dreamed of performing music for thousands of people, but he didn’t expect his stage would be the Edmonton International Airport.
“I definitely imagined, right from the first time I sang… the big 15,000 people crowds, but I never thought it would come to the Edmonton International Airport,” laughs 19-year-old Kaminski.
The EIA started featuring home-grown musicians after hearing that finding a venue was one of the biggest hurdles local artists face.
“It generated from an idea from Global’s program Woman of Vision,” explains EIA’s Heather Hamilton.
“Rhea March was talking about developing musical talent in the city and that one of the major challenges is finding an opportunity or a location for these musicians to perform.”
Hamilton says that information inspired the airport into action.
“We have a great facility that’s a safe place for young musicians to perform and get access to a really huge audience,” she says. “We are at 18,000 to 20,000 passengers a day.”
In the six years since it began, the airport’s program has included about 75 local musicians.
READ MORE: EIA’s Live All Year program
Because of EIA’s latest expansion, there are now three stages for artists to perform on.
“You’re sitting and enjoying the real experience of live music as you would on a sidewalk café or a small bar on Whyte Avenue, for example,” says Hamilton. “It’s a really great ambiance.”
For Kaminski, offering passengers a musical reprieve has become his full-time job.
“You very rarely run into the same person twice here. You can come every single day and there will be a new audience waiting and ready to hear you,” he says.
“I guess that personal connection to so many people at once is almost kind of an addiction for me now. I can’t stop. It’s awesome. It’s my love for sure,” he adds with smile.
And, it’s a love that has provided some very rewarding moments for the young musician.
One woman approached him after an emotional goodbye at the airport.
“She said that she had just found her birth parents and she just had to say goodbye to them to fly back to Toronto. She said that she was telling them that she wasn’t going to cry the whole time, and then when she saw my music, heard my music, she couldn’t help it, and she realized that it’s important to cry. She said that connection… helped her release that.”
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