Corey Payette is proud of his Oji-Cree heritage from Northern Ontario. He has worked across Canada as a playwright, actor, composer, and director, and is the winner of the John Hirsch Prize, two Jessie Awards, and two Ovation Awards. Corey’s work includes the original musical Children of God (book/music/lyrics & direction) which premiered in 2017 and has toured extensively since, Les Filles du Roi (music and direction, with co-book/lyrics with Julie McIsaac), which was written in English, French, and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk), and Sedna (music composition and direction, co-created with Reneltta Arluk and Marshall McMahen). Corey is the Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Urban Ink, past Artist-in-Residence with English Theatre at Canada’s National Arts Centre, and the founding Artistic Director of Raven Theatre. He was the past Grand Chief of the Board of Directors of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance. Corey lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl’ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.