Palouse Choral Society Presents "A Tribute to Native American Culture"
Name:
Palouse Choral Society Presents "A Tribute to Native American Culture"
Date:
April 15, 2018
Time:
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM PDT
Event Description:
The Palouse Choral Society will perform “A Tribute to Native American Culture,” a concert of music connected to the traditions of several Native American tribal nations.
The centerpiece of the concert is “Song of the Salish Chief,” a piece commissioned for the Vancouver, BC, centennial. The text, taken from Earle Birney’s 1954 radio play “Speech of the Salish Chief,” vividly describes the life of the Salish people through the eyes of an aging chief. The five movements of the work depict Salish rituals and activities such as basket weaving, hunts and potlatches, and the tradition of the Salmon ceremony. The chief narrates these remembrances through the lens of the arrival of European Americans and the subsequent devastating impact on native culture. Composer Peter Berring blends traditional western musical styles, including jazz and vivid text painting, to bring Birney’s text powerfully alive. The piece will include a tenor soloist, piano, flute, and percussion.
The program will also feature pieces in Lakota and Cree, a piece based on text from Chief Seattle, and a “Native American Prayer for Peace” from the United Nations Year of Peace.
This performance is the choral society’s final concert with Sarah Graham as conductor and artistic director.
The centerpiece of the concert is “Song of the Salish Chief,” a piece commissioned for the Vancouver, BC, centennial. The text, taken from Earle Birney’s 1954 radio play “Speech of the Salish Chief,” vividly describes the life of the Salish people through the eyes of an aging chief. The five movements of the work depict Salish rituals and activities such as basket weaving, hunts and potlatches, and the tradition of the Salmon ceremony. The chief narrates these remembrances through the lens of the arrival of European Americans and the subsequent devastating impact on native culture. Composer Peter Berring blends traditional western musical styles, including jazz and vivid text painting, to bring Birney’s text powerfully alive. The piece will include a tenor soloist, piano, flute, and percussion.
The program will also feature pieces in Lakota and Cree, a piece based on text from Chief Seattle, and a “Native American Prayer for Peace” from the United Nations Year of Peace.
This performance is the choral society’s final concert with Sarah Graham as conductor and artistic director.
