Notes from Native America

Event Details:

Location: Paramount Theatre

Date: Friday, February 24, 2017

Time: 8 pm

Program:

PROGRAM

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 9

Feather Dances 

SuNuNu Shinal Traditional dancers from
Kashia Stewarts Point Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians

JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE
Lowak Shoppala’ – Fire and Light

Hymn

Vincent Medina, narrator
Members of Oakland Symphony Chorus

JOHN CHRISTOPHER WINEGLASS Big Sur: The Night Sun

Emiliano Campobello, native flute
Marcie Chapa, world percussionist
Jayson Fann, world percussionist
Kanyon Sayers-Roods, Native American singer
from the Costanoan Ohlone and Chumash Tribes

JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE
Lowak Shoppala’ – Fire and Light

Clans

Vincent Medina, narrator
Members of Oakland Symphony Chorus

 

Program Notes

Michael Morgan

Music Director Laureate

Dr. Lynne Morrow

chorus director

Jerod Tate

composer

John Christopher Wineglass

composer

Emiliano Campobello

native flute

Marcie Chapa

world percussionist

Jayson Fann

world percussionist

Kanyon Sayers-Roods

Native American singer

Su Nu Nu Shinal

Traditional dancers from Kashia Stewarts Point Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians

Vincent Medina

narrator

Join us for an exploration of music of, by and for Native America. Chicksaw composer Jerod Impchchaachaaha’ Tate’s work from Lowak Shoppala’ (Fire and Light) is narrated by special guest Vincent Medina featuring members of the Oakland Symphony Chorus. SuNuNu Shinal dancers from Kashia Stewarts Point Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians perform Feather Dances. John Wineglass brings his Big Sur: The Night Sun to the Bay Area, along with a 7 ft tall redwood tree drum. Guest soloists include Marcie Chapa, world percussionist; Emiliano Campobello, native flute; Jayson Fann, world percussionist; and Kanyon Sayers-Rood, Native American singer from the Costanoan Ohlone and Chumash Tribes.

February’s “Notes from Native America” concert is our exploration of the music associated with Native Americans, something we as a Nation should be doing more of. Audiences will experience the rich cultural heritage of the hundreds of tribes and peoples that make up this community. This concert will be a chance to learn more about the first people to inhabit our country. There will be spoken word, dance and native instruments in what should be a colorful and spiritual concert experience.

Note From Maestro Michael Morgan:
The series “Notes from….” is designed to welcome different elements of our community into the symphony family. The diversity of the Bay Area is well known and therefore should be reflected in the concert hall. In the past there have been Notes from Persia, China, the Philippines, Mexico and other places. In the future we will have Notes from LGBT America and the African Diaspora and other communities that make up our region. The Oakland Symphony is for everyone and “Notes from…” is a way of expressing that through the music itself. Many times it’s our most interesting, entertaining and colorful concert of the season. The series also exposes what we hope are new audience members to the standard orchestra repertory. In this case, the jovial Ninth Symphony of Shostakovich, the second of three Shostakovich symphonies we will play in consecutive seasons.

I chose the Native American community because it’s a vast subject that most of us know little about. These concerts are very much a learning experience for all of us and we always come away with greater appreciation of both our similarities and our differences.

In a real brush with multiculturalism, the Wineglass piece on the program, Big Sur: The Night Sun, is on Ohlone themes, with Native soloists, written by an African American. It includes a drum so large we have to use a special truck and fork lift to get it here and onstage.