Listen to the SDSO on the radio and online this Christmas

Listen for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) radio airwaves this Christmas!

SDPB will play portions of Handel's Messiah from one of our past Holiday Pops concerts on Christmas Eve morning from 9am to 10am in a special called "The Best of South Dakota Holiday Music." Tune in to hear selections from this year's Holiday Pops concert on Christmas Eve night from 9pm to 10pm and Christmas morning from 11am to Noon.

The radio broadcast is also streamed live through the SDPB website so you can listen to the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra online from your computer anywhere this Christmas may find you.

Tune in to CBS on Christmas Eve to hear the SDSO in the national broadcast of "Christmas at the Cathedral"

A special one-hour broadcast of highlights from the popular local production, Christmas at The Cathedral will be broadcast nationally on the CBS television network on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24. This special commercial-free broadcast will air nationally after the local news (10:35 PM - 11:35 PM, CT; 11:35 PM - 12:35 AM, ET/PT).

“CBS finds Christmas at The Cathedral to be a wonderful, broadly-based and welcoming broadcast. Everyone is invited into the Cathedral, reaches both Christians and non-Christians,” said Jack Blessington, Executive Producer for CBS in New York. “So many people from such various backgrounds and religions responded positively to the Christmas at The Cathedral broadcast in 2006. We are happy to have it back.”

This is the third time in the past four years that Christmas at The Cathedral has aired on national network television. The NBC television network provided Christmas at The Cathedral to its affiliates in 2007, in addition to a CBS network broadcast in 2006, in which it was carried by 203 affiliates and satellite stations from across the country. The positive response from viewers led to this year’s invitation to air a special broadcast of highlights from the past four years.

“We are honored to be able to celebrate the incredible story of Christmas with the rest of the country from right here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,” said Mark Conzemius, producer and director of Christmas at The Cathedral. “It is a tribute to the talent of our local artists, to the extraordinary beauty of the Cathedral, the generosity of our local business community that make Christmas at The Cathedral possible. But most of all, I believe it is a because of the powerful message and community-wide celebration of Christ’s birth.”

Christmas at The Cathedral – Beacon of Hope, features the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor emeritus, Henry Charles Smith. World-renown tenor Scott Piper, who lives in Vermillion, performs O Holy Night and Thy Will Be Done, a special song written for St Joseph Cathedral by local composer, Dan Goeller. Soprano Emily Lodine, from Magnolia, MN, joins Piper in a beautiful rendition of Let There be Peace on Earth. Soprano Stacey Stofferahn, who studied at Augustana College, will perform Emmanuel, God With Us with video by local producer, Kirby Schultz, to enrich this moving concert broadcast.

Concert pianist, Paul Sanchez, an O+Gorman High School graduate, teams up with Piper in an inspirational rendition of the Ave Maria. Triplet trumpeters, The Stoneback Sisters, who once lived in Sioux Falls, begin and end the concert with grand fanfare. In a special candlelit section dedicated to children around the world, the St. Joseph Cathedral Men’s Schola under the direction of Ron Schallenkamp, sing Prayer of the Children, with a multi-cultural children's choir from the Sioux Falls Catholic Schools. Local actor and author, Tom Roberts, shares a special Christmas story, called The Red Wagon. As has become tradition, the concert ends with the Cathedral Choir and all performers in the Hallelujiah Chorus.

For 13 years, an interfaith audience has been welcomed to, Christmas at the Cathedral, a community-wide celebration filled with music, and song, focusing on the universal story of the birth of the Prince of Peace. A prayerful message and Christmas blessing will be lead by the Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, The Most Reverend Paul J. Swain.

St Joseph Cathedral is the setting for the concert and it is the seat of the diocese which covers 35,000 square miles, east of the Missouri River. St. Joseph Cathedral, Romanesque and Renaissance in style, was built from 1917-1919, designed by renowned architect, Emanuel Masqueray. It is considered one of the most prominent structures in the state. Referred to as a “Beacon of Hope,” the Cathedral is an imposing limestone building, with two great towers, sits on a natural ridge overlooking the city of Sioux Falls, and can be seen for miles.

Mark Conzemius is the Producer of the Christmas at The Cathedral concert, John P. Blessington is Executive Producer for CBS.

Polyphonic interviews Maestro Gier

Check out the great online article with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra's music director, Maestro Delta David Gier in Polyphonic. The article is about his approach to designing a Young People's Concert with the New York Philharmonic.

The Youth Orchestra is on YouTube!

The first half of Dmitri Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110 performed by the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra on October 25th, 2009.



The second half of Dmitri Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110 performed by the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra on October 25th, 2009.

Famed Pianist Angelina Gadeliya To Make Educational Visit At Her Alma Mater, Whittier Middle School

Famed pianist and former Sioux Falls resident, Angelina Gadeliya, will make an educational visit to her alma mater, Whittier Middle School in Sioux Falls at 1:45pm on Thursday, October 29th. She will meet with 325 students for an interactive performance. Along with the performance, Gadeliya will also answer questions about what it takes to become a professional musician and how the staff at Whittier influenced her journey when she was a student there herself. A number of current teachers, as well as the head principal, were at Whittier when Angela was a student.

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The South Dakota Symphony presents “Stage Fright! A Scary Music Night” on Halloween, Oct. 31st at 8pm and a matinee on Sunday, Nov. 1st at 2:30pm.

Former South Dakota Symphony Orchestra musician and Sioux Falls native Angelina Gadeliya is the featured guest piano soloist. She will perform Liszt's fiery composition, Totentanz.

All audience members and musicians are encouraged to come in costume for both performances! Students who come in costume to either performance get in for $5 at the door. (“Students” are little ones on up through college.)

Regular ticket prices range from $10 to $45.

Everyone is invited to arrive early for a Concert Insights discussion one hour before each performance.

A ticket stub from either “Stage Fright! A Scary Music Night” performance gets you FREE admission to the Kirby Science Center at the Washington Pavilion on Sunday, Nov. 1st.

Repertoire includes recognizable selections such as music from Harry Potter and Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice (of Mickey Mouse Fantasia fame).

Maestro Delta David Gier to appear on radio show

Tune in to "Dakota Mid-Day" on SDPB (90.9 FM in Sioux Falls) for an interview with Maestro Delta David Gier from the South Dakota Symphony at about 12:40pm today.

If you miss the live interview, check out the show's webpage for an archived recording.

Video concert with the Augustana String Quartet

Have you attended a concert from your desk yet today? Listen in on this video concert with SDSO musicians in the Augustana String Quartet. A refreshing way to end the week.

Looking for more information? Click here to get to know the players in the Augustana String Quartet. Come to our Chamber concerts to hear the quartets and quintet play live in the intimate setting of the Washington Pavilion's Belbas Theater. Join us at the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra concerts to see the chamber musicians play in the full orchestra as well.

Call the Symphony office at 605-335-7933 or visit http://www.sdsymphony.org/ for ticket information.

SDSO featured in two Argus Leader articles

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader published two articles about the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra over the weekend.

Orchestra focuses season on piano concertos - This article gives a brief overview of each concert coming up this season. The online version also includes a video interview with SDSO music director Delta David Gier and some behind the scenes rehearsal footage.

South Dakota Symphony Orchestra welcomes back famed pianist - A great look into the life of Sioux Falls native and former SDSO musician Angelina Gadeliya. Angelina is our featured guest piano soloist in the upcoming Halloween weekend concerts -- Halloween night at 8pm and Sunday, Nov. 1st at 2:30pm.

Free three for back to homeschool

August 19, 2:09 PM Sioux Falls Homeschooling Examiner Christin Berger

Many homeschool parents struggle with trying to balance their financial constraints with their desire to have plenty of fun, educational activities for their children. Here is my Free Three list for the week to help you as you plan your year.

The Outdoor Campus offers a wide array of classes and learning opportunities throughout the year. All of their classes for children are free and many of the adult classes are too. They also offer field trip opportunities and geocaching trails. Their website is very easy to navigate and they offer plenty of downloadable information that you can use in your homeschool. Make sure you sign up for their newsletter! The one I received today had a great recipe for sunshine in a cloud that my kids will love making.

The South Dakota Symphony is home to amazing musicians guided by a world class conductor, Mr. Delta David Grier. Would it surprise you to find out that you can experience all of this for free? The South Dakota Symphony allows free access to their dress rehearsals! If you would prefer to see the performance at the regular time they offer a number of different package deals including half-price subscriptions for new subscribers. You will not be disappointed with either choice. This symphony is nothing short of excellent! Sign up for their free newsletter to keep up with the many expanded opportunities they will be offering this year.

The Washington Pavilion has Free First Friday’s with free admission to the Pavilion and the Kirby Science Center. They offer additional activities and opportunities above and beyond their normal fare. Free First Fridays run from 5 – 8 PM and are much more fun than movie night in my opinion. The next First Friday will be on September 4th, make sure you look for us there!

Argus Leader: Living with Cancer

Jill Callison • jcalliso@argusleader.com • July 23, 2009

Brothers Rich and Chris Hill shared a clarinet as boys living in New Jersey.

They would go to lessons together. Chris would play first, attaching his reed to the clarinet.

Then it was Rich's turn to put a reed on the instrument purchased for $25 from a neighbor.

Eventually, when the brothers became good enough to play in a band, their parents bought a second clarinet that was advertised in the newspaper classifieds.

"Chris got the better clarinet," Rich recalls. "I wasn't particular."

Chris decided in high school to devote his life to music. Today, he plays principal clarinet with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, belongs to the Dakota Wind Quintet and directs the Sioux Falls Municipal Band.

Rich first entered the field of pharmacy, then joined "the industry," working for the drug companies that produce life-saving pills and potions.

He became immersed in the research, publication and education associated with Taxol, then a relatively new weapon in the battle against breast cancer. It also has been effective in treating other cancers.

He helped Taxol obtain FDA approval.

"If you were a doctor or nurse or pharmacist or even a patient, you either called me or the people who worked for me," Rich says. "If I didn't have the answer, I knew where to go."

Rich also became an expert on Procrit, a medication that increases the production of red blood cells, thereby reducing fatigue among people undergoing chemotherapy, and several anti-nausea drugs.

That expertise has been needed in his own family. He and Chris lost their father to cancer in 2007, but Taxol extended his life.

"He was the first one in my family to use Taxol," Chris says. "He had bladder cancer, and it spread to his liver. Taxol was designed for breast cancer originally, but they discovered it did work well on other cancers."

That same year, Chris' fianceé, Susan, learned she had breast cancer. Susan's treatment included Taxol. She married Chris on May 17, 2008, eight days after a final radiation treatment.

"We took a look at her records, and the doctor actually wrote in there, 'The husband's brother is an expert on Taxol,' " Chris says.

But Taxol is not effective on pancreatic or endocrine tumors. That made it even more difficult for the Hill family when they learned another family member has cancer.

This time it is Rich, who was diagnosed with an extremely rare neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas in 2006.

Chris was thinking of his brother when he chose "Heroes" as the theme of Friday's Sioux Falls Municipal Band concert. The performance will kick off the annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Sioux Falls.

Not only did he have Rich in mind, he asked his brother to come to Sioux Falls to play a clarinet solo.

Despite the pain he experiences as his tumor grows, Rich decided to make the trip.
But he shrugs off the hero label.

"When I got diagnosed, (my dad) was more devastated by me getting it than his own cancer," Rich says. "He said, 'Son, you have two choices: Fight like hell, or you die. Those are the only two.' And it's very true."

Rich, 50, is the oldest of the four Hill brothers. Chris came next.

The others, and their mother, live within 15 miles of each other. But in 1987, Chris, now 49, moved to Sioux Falls to pursue his dream of being a professional clarinetist.

As boys, Rich wanted to play trombone, Chris violin. But a neighbor had a clarinet, and the brothers had parents who doubted they would stick with it.

They couldn't have been more wrong. Eventually, all four Hill brothers learned to play at least three instruments in high school.

"The two of us were very competitive with each other," Chris says of Rich.

"We auditioned against each other 14 times. We each beat the other one seven times. We were exactly tied by the time we were done."

Rich didn't choose music as a career, but he didn't leave it behind. For years Chris has used his brother as an example to his clarinet students, pointing out how music as an avocation enriches one's life.

When Rich's illness permits, he continues to play in five bands, including the Virginia Grand Military Band. It is comprised almost exclusively of musicians who once played in military bands.

Its director invited him to join after hearing Rich play the piccolo clarinet with the Blawenburg Band, one of New Jersey's oldest community bands.

"He said, 'The piccolo clarinet is my least favorite instrument in the entire band, and you're one of the only people I've heard play it that I like the way it sounds. Do you ever get down in Virginia?' "

Chris, Rich says, is the true musician in the family.

"The times Chris has come out here to play, I insist he sits next to me," Rich says. "It's a free clarinet lesson. I learn an awful lot from him."

Chris, however, says Rich is the one giving lessons now. His brother is facing the future with a positive attitude. Rich, the father of daughters Kim, Kristen and Kerriann, is engaged to marry Jennifer Elliott, who has two daughters, Katie and Lizzie. He lives in Flemington, N.J.

Chris says his father and his wife shared Rich's attitude.

"I've learned about the positive spirit of those who have cancer," Chris says. "They decide to live with the cancer and not die from the cancer."

Jill Callison's column runs Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Argus Leader.

Symphony Receives Honor

Staff Reports • Argus Leader • June 15, 2009

The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra has received an award for programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

The annual ASCAP Adventurous Programming Awards recognize U.S. orchestras whose past season prominently featured music written within the last 25 years.

According to the ASCAP Web site, ASCAP and the League of American Orchestras presented 26 awards to orchestras at a presentation Thursday in Chicago.

The South Dakota Symphony won first place in the contemporary music category for orchestras with expenses of $1.8 million to $5.7 million.

"For every year of the past 52 years, the members of ASCAP have presented Adventurous Programming Awards to those orchestras whose commitment to the music creators of our time insures the continuity of our living art form for future generations," said Francis Richard, ASCAP's vice president and director of concert music, in a release.

Letters to the Argus Leader: Lakota Music Project

Chuck C. Tufty
President
Crystal Theatre Board
Flandreau

On May 20, the Crystal Theatre in Flandreau had the opportunity to host the Lakota Music Project, a collaborative effort by the Porcupine Singers and the Dakota Chamber Orchestra to provide music from two distinct and different cultures. The results were wonderful, and the credit goes to symphony Conductor David Gier and Barry LeBeau for the vision to make it happen and to the symphony members, Melvin Young Bear and drummers for putting the music together.

Those in attendance now have a much greater appreciation for the music of both cultures, and we definitely feel the musical gap has been bridged.

The audience truly appreciated the opportunity to attend this premier event in Flandreau, and the standing ovations attested to that.

Robert, you all had me from Flandreau!

I thought it couldn't get better than that first night. But I have to admit at every concert I thought, "THIS IS THE BEST ONE," then the next night I'd think, "THIS IS THE BEST ONE."

The contrast on the first half was so interesting and humorous at times. Hearing Romeo and Juliet played immediately after the Lakota Rabbit song made me laugh out loud.

But as Melvin started singing and we were moved to standing as we listened to the songs of mourning “where have you gone Swift Elk, your family is crying, I am crying” (or words close to that) I wept.

Every night, five night's in a row it happened. I could feel their voices in my heart. It never ever lessened. In fact the more familiar I became with the drum and the sound of their voices it became more and more powerful. (At Rapid City the gentleman behind me knew the words and was singing along, his companion cried, I cried more).

The contrast - the incredible players of the SDSO performed Barber's Adagio, a completely different sound yet once again the music was making it's way into my heart.

From Gym to Church these incredible artists sounded like one being. Their sound, tone, color, rhythm, heart was not affected by echoing sound systems or reverberating walls.

Robert very clearly pointed out that we were celebrating what we had in common as human beings but Ronnie pointed out just as importantly that we weren't trying to erase the uniqueness of each group.

That was said each time, but yesterday in Rapid City at the First Congregational Church, what was made clear to me was that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made.

Unique creations with the same Father. We have our creator in common. A creator who understands contrast and diversity, who uses it as a design element in the creation.

It is why we do and can make music and why we can music together.

I must mention (as an Italian and a human being) that eating together after three of the performances just made it all that much better. God bless those women and men who made all that food. How did they know how much to make? It was such a joy to eat together after all that incredible music making (and experiencing).

On the first night in Flandreau when the orchestra unexpectedly arrived at the meal filing slowly in the door one at a time, the crowd spontaneously erupted into applause for each and every one of the incredibly talented group. They deserved it.

The composers, Jeff Paul and Brent Michael Davids, WOW, I can only hope we hear this music again soon. Jeff's piece was so haunting and beautiful. The marriage of Melvin’s song and Jeff's music was perfect. Each time I was delighted to hear the instruments subtly repeat what had been vocalized. The electric guitar was perfect and then Jeff explained the inspiration for it being there and that just made it more perfect.

Every night, even after five performances, I was still surprised to find myself wanting to just get up and dance as Brent's piece was coming to a close. It did what he explained it was to do, it gently lead me into Lakota country until I suddenly realized I was fully there, surrounded by the beauty and rhythm of the Lakota and the orchestra was also a part of it.

THANK YOU, Porcupine Singers and your beautiful families for sharing you this week.

Thank you, Robert and Barry and Ronnie and David and Jeff and Brent.

Thank you, SDSO Chamber Orchestra and your families for sharing you as well. And congratulations to the SDSO Lakota Project baby, born the last day of the tour, Charli Zuzanna Fickbohm.

And thank you to all the people with vision and people who have vision AND money to support it!

ENCORE! ENCORE!

By Angela Gier

Rosebud Reservation Performance a Triumph

After a drive across the majestic Missouri River into the rolling plains of south central South Dakota, we arrived in Mission, South Dakota - my home! I imagined the challenge before the Dakota Chamber Orchestra and the Porcupine Singers to keep the enery of the Flandreau and Sioux Falls performances at the heights it had reached but there was no question that they reached NEW heights in Rosebud!

Of course, I knew that the audience would be great! With around 200 in attendance at the Sinte Gleska (Seen-tay Gleh-shkah) University multi-purpose center their anticipation and enthusiasm throughout the entire concert was tremendous! I am a little biased of course as so many of my family were in attendance including my senior parents. What a great evening filled with laughter and another incredible response to the vision of the Lakota Music Project. Folks came all the way from Murdo 45 mile away, Valentine, NE about 35 miles away and from throughout many of our communities on the Rosebud Reservation.

The concert opened and flew from there! One of the really neat connections was between the Porcupine Singers and many in the audience with shared memories of pow-wows pat and the relationships that form over the years of sharing music, stories, laughter and sorrows and always a meal! I sensed the audience was proud of the acknowledgment of traditional music styles by the European style musicians. It is an acknowledgment of traditional singers and a centuries old musical style as legitimate music. I think the members of the Dakota Chamber Orchestra are embracing the spiritual nature of the Lakota Music Project and we are all making the vision of this work our own in a way that will grow reach all corners of South Dakota and the entire region!

While folks from my home know and have always been so kind in their encouragement of all the hats I wear here - from elected tribal leader to being active in the faith community to realizing some musical performance dreams - it was great sharing the evening with them. They too felt the spirit of the evening and felt the work of the commissioned pieces Desert Wind and Black Hill Olowan (Oh-loh-wahng) and responded with quick and lengthy standing ovations for both pieces. What a great night this was, I am almost sad that there are only two more performances!
If you can get there we will see you at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge tonight at 6:00 pm or in Rapid City at the 1st Congregation Church of Christ located at 1200 Clark Street at 2:00 pm. I know it will be great - but nothing beats the home-town audience! Thank you Rosebud for a great night of music, laughter and, as always, a great meal.

By Robert Moore

Get Ready to be Wowed!

Wow! It happened all over again! Another great and inspiring concert by the Dakota Chamber Orchestra and the Porcupine Singers! I am honored to be performing with and along side of these masters of music and spirit!

The concert was performed last night at a near capacity multi-cultural center in downtown Sioux Falls. The audience was a great mix of family, young, old and a real cross of both American Indian and non-Indian listeners. It was a great testimony to the far reaching goals of the Lakota Music Project - to bring people together. I observed young families who would likely not ever attend a typical symphony concert being swept into the full sounds of the chamber orchestra. I witnessed the enthusiastic standing ovations to the two pieces that combined the Lakota traditional drum music with the complexities of the many moving parts of the orchestra.

Some of the responses seemed wide-eyed at the masterful way these two musical traditions worked together to produce the emotion and spirit of these two composers through music. Brent Michael Davids and Jeffery Paul - with collaboration by Melvin D. Young Bear, the Keeper of the Drum and lead of the Porcupine Singers - have lifted the vision of the audience to see and hear their hearts through their compositions. They have lifted my vision and my spirit to hear the sounds - history, environment, culture, people and music- of the geographic places honored by their work - the Black Hills of South Dakota and the desert of the south west. All I can say is “wow!”

Tonight we are in my home town of Mission, South Dakota. I am pleased that my family and tiospaye (tee-ohsh-pah-yay) - which is Lakota for extended family, will be able to hear and witness a first for the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation! I am the primary care-giver to my senior parents who are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary this July. They will be there tonight too and after witnessing many things in their lifetime together I am sure they are going to agree with me and add their “wow” to the countless others we are hearing!

Join us tonight in Mission at 7:00 pm or 6:00 pm tomorrow in Pine Ridge at the Red Cloud Indian School or Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm in Rapid City at the 1st Congregational United Church of Christ. I guarantee you will be wowed!

By Robert Moore

World Premieres of Lakota Music Project Performed in Flandreau

While the world was celebrating a new “idol”, and an Olympic gymnast danced off with the coveted mirror ball trophy, a major event was taking shape and happening in the quiet hamlet of Flandreau, South Dakota.

The Lakota Music Project, a collaboration of music and spirit between the South Dakota Chamber Orchestra (members of the SD Symphony), the Porcupine Singers of Pine Ridge, SD (keepers of a traditional music legacy), and yours truly, Robert Moore, raised the roof of the historic Crystal Theatre in downtown Flandreau.

Not one, but TWO WORLD PREMIERES occurred last night. The concert, one of the best I have ever heard or been privileged to participate in, opened with the exploration of musical themes around love, war or battle, passing and mourning, and finally celebration. I was able to warble a couple of songs in the mix, but the themes that cross cultural, social and economic barriers were the hits! The description and lead-ins to the themes really brought the musical pieces by the “western” and Lakota traditional music to life and home!

The second half of the concert featured two new works set by accomplished composers, the first, “Desert Wind” took my spirit soaring over the wind swept south west of the United States - I could almost feel the desert wind in the theater. The closing piece returned me home to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The piece, Black Hills Olowan - which means black hills song - was filled with every possible image the history and life of the Black Hills means to the Lakota. Who knew such incredible music could make me feel so connected to a place - mentally and spiritually. More on the composers of these two masterpiece works later in this blog.

If you are reading this, you have to do all that you can to get to the Multi-cultural center in Sioux Falls tonight (Thursday) or to Mission on Friday, Pine Ridge on Sat or Rapid City on Sunday afternoon! Don’t miss this opportunity to have music lift your spirit and vision - Maestro Delta David Gier, Barry LeBeau and Dr. Ronnie Thiez are the minds behind the Lakota Music Project - its full results yet to be seen, but off to a great start to bring some folks together throughout South Dakota through music that may not have ever joined together for an evening of anything!

American Idols and dancing stars? Who needs em when you have the great audiences and musicians of South Dakota! Flandreau, you are the Idol of the day!

By Robert Moore

Native singers, orchestra create S. Dakota sound

Styles blend in concert collaboration

Peter Harriman • pharrima@argusleader.com • May 20, 2009

The Dakota Chamber Orchestra plays its part of "Black Hills Olowan" - horns, winds and strings playing short, sharp sounds, making dense music.

How is this going to work, one wonders?

Then, introduced by a flourish of jingling bells from the percussionist, Melvin D. Young Bear answers with a melodic wail, joined by the Porcupine Singers.

The sound rushes like an avalanche, carrying an audience along with it.

It suddenly is clear the orchestra is a counterpoint, a resistant base to the Pine Ridge drum group, and the contrast shows off both musical traditions.

A listener blinks and thinks, "Wow!"

The Lakota Music Project, a collaboration four years in the making, will come to fruition this week when the Chamber Orchestra and Porcupine Singers tour South Dakota.

The impetus for this occurred shortly after South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Maestro Delta David Gier came to Sioux Falls in 2004 and began inquiring about how the symphony could do outreach unique to South Dakota.

"Early on, it became evident the issues to be addressed were Native American," he says.
Barry LeBeau, liaison officer for the United Sioux Tribes and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, introduced Gier to Lakota music and to the prominent Pine Ridge drum group, the Porcupine Singers.

At Eagle Butte in 2007 and at Pine Ridge in February last year, orchestra musicians met with members of Lakota drum groups and listened to them play. The musicians also talked about their respective traditions.

In a previous year, members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate also had performed a dance for orchestra musicians who played a concert on the reservation, and they invited the orchestra members to join in.

From this background, the collaborative Lakota Music Project took shape, aided by a National Endowment for the Arts grant.

The concerts across South Dakota recognize that both the orchestra and the drum group are keepers of respective musical traditions, Gier says. To that end, Ronnie Theisz, a faculty member at Black Hills State University and a member of the Porcupine Singers, suggested each group explore four themes in the first part of the concert. The themes are courtship and love; warriors; death and mourning; and joy.

During a rehearsal Tuesday at Augustana College, the drum group and orchestra began to hammer out the nuts and bolts of their collaboration. The fact that the orchestra works from printed music and the Lakota singers from an oral tradition meant the Porcupine Singers have to accommodate somewhat to the traditions of orchestra music.

But while Brent Michael David's "Black Hills Olowan" composition initially highlights distinctions between the two musical styles, there comes a point where they merge and follow the Lakota lead. The woodwinds and strings echo the lyrical keening of Young Bear, Theisz, Emmanuel Black Bear, Tim Black Bear and John Mesteth. The sound soars, seems ready to float the roof off the rehearsal room and crumble the cinder block walls.

Gier, conducting this, says to the musicians at the conclusion, "When the winds were cooking with them, that was in a groove. That was really nice."

Young Bear is delighted to have his voice and the other singers' become orchestral instruments.
"To me, I thought this would never happen. It is awesome to be part of this project. Words can't describe it," he says.

The Lakota Music Project does more than highlight the respective musical traditions on display, according to Young Bear. Listening to the orchestra has given him musical insights as to "how rhythm, melody and tone come together."

He says the collaboration is helping the Porcupine Singers lead the way to a new dimension of traditional drum group music.

Within the orchestra, the percussionists are a direct analog to the Lakota drum. In "Essays on American Indian Music," Tony Isaacs of the Indian House record label points out the drum has a sophisticated relationship to the vocal beat, preceding it and varying it slightly.

When this is written for the orchestra, "you can be misled by looking at the printed music," percussionist Craig Spangler says.

"Our role is different than it normally is," adds Bob Kramer, assistant tympanist. When they play with the Lakota drum "we're trying to make authentic sounds," he says.

As the musicians weave their respective traditions into a common music in the rehearsal, they approach what LeBeau says about Lakota music. It "can be haunting, melancholy and hair-raising in force. When melded with the same orchestral sounds, you get the feeling that you understand what the piece is saying. In Lakota, it is 'Mitakuya Oyasin,' we are all related."
What Young Bear would like South Dakota audiences to take away from the collaboration this week is this: "The healing from the heart, the healing from music. Close your eyes, put your head back and listen to the music."

The Augustana String Quartet will perform a collaborative recital with guest artists John

Friday, May 15, Larson Memorial Concert Hall, SDSU, Brookings, SD
Saturday, May 16, Kresge Recital Hall, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD

Both concerts are at 7:30pm, and are free and open to the public.

Program:
Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 John Walker, piano
Schubert Cello Quintet in C major, Op. 163 Maxim Kozlov, cello

In the fall of 2007, the Augustana String Quartet was formed as a collaboration between the South Dakota Symphony and Augustana College. At that time these four individuals, who received their positions through an audition process and who consequently were strangers to one another, began an intense personal and professional life with each other. Since then they have established themselves as one of the region’s premiere chamber music ensembles. Some highlights have included the spring of 2008, when they collaborated with composer and associate principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic, John Deak. The quartet performed his concerto for string quartet and orchestra based on “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Most recently, they were invited as guest artists for the Iowa International Piano Competition, were they performed with six semifinalists from around the world. This upcoming concert marks a milestone in their existence, in that it is their first fully collaborative program. They will perform the dark and introspective piano quintet by Brahms with SDSU faculty member John Walker, as well as the fantastic and celebratory cello quintet by Schubert with the South Dakota Symphony’s principal cellist, Maxim Kozlov.

The Augustana String Quartet is Christian Zamora and Justyna Lutow, violins, I-Chun Chiang, viola, and Kathryn Hufnagle, cello.

Sneak Peak: Program Notes for Brent Michael Davids' Composition "Black Hills Olowan" | Lakota Music Project Premier

“Black Hills Olowan” is a concert work for American Indian singers and orchestra that honors the Black Hills of South Dakota, and features the Porcupine Singers. In the introductory portions of “Black Hills Olowan,” the singers are integrated with the symphonic instruments, almost as if they are another instrumental section of the orchestra. However, the concluding moments of the work feature the singers as a leading voice, driving the symphony along to its rousing conclusion. The importance of the Black Hills to the original inhabitants of the land is well articulated by Dr. Ronnie Theisz:

“The Black Hills of western South Dakota and Eastern Wyoming known to the Lakota as Paha Sapa (Black Hills) and He Sapa (Black Mountains) hold a revered place in the history and culture especially of the Lakota and Cheyenne nations, but also for others such as the Mandan, Arikara, and Kiowa. For the Lakota, sacred oral tradition has preserved the significance of the Black Hills as “the heart of everything that is.” Many sites in and around the Black Hills still vibrate with geomythological significance. The 19th century confrontation with the expanding United States made the Black Hills into a flashpoint, a place of confrontation, exploitation, and conflict in military, legal, spiritual, economic, environmental, and symbolic terms. The Black Hills was taken from the Lakota in the Act of 1877, a taking found ultimately to be illegal by the United States Supreme Court a century later. The refusal to relinquish their Black Hills, guaranteed by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, has become a Lakota cause célèbre still today. The intertribal dancing song called Heart Butte Special was originally composed by the Dine singer and composer Arlie Neskahi. The widely known Porcupine Singers on a trip to the Browning Montana celebration in the early 1980s requested permission to perform and record this song which was to become one of their trademark and most popular intertribal songs” (R. D. Theisz).

“Black Hills Olowan” was commissioned by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra for a Native American tour with support of the American Composers Forum and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sneak Peak: Program Notes for Jeff Paul's "Desert Wind" | Lakota Music Project Premier

The inspiration for “Desert Wind” comes from an atmosphere that ties together both physically and emotionally, and is largely introspective.

That atmosphere is loneliness.

Loneliness is both depicted and dealt with in the piece, and in the end the “loneliness” becomes “aloneness” which provides more opportunity for one to find beauty, comfort, and enlightenment in it—overall a very positive outlook on a landscape that appears barren and desolate on the surface. We are meant to revel in it, finding peace and even warmth inside ourselves.

I first decided to explore this idea musically after having lived in South Dakota for a year or two, before which I was in Southern California for most of my life. I was fondly remembering my various road trips that happened frequently through late high school and college, and even during my family’s move to the Midwest. The desert landscapes of the California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah interstates were always particularly poignant to me, and I was surprised to discover that the high plains and prairie landscapes in South Dakota were really quite similar (after you factor out the temperature) and that the feeling I got from the Dakotan prairies was intimately related. I came up with the piece, and was hopeful that the melody would be able to reach anyone who has had a certain intimacy with the prairie environment, including Lakota communities. I felt that the sound of my piece and the sound of traditional Lakota song, though very different, would complement each other profoundly, and have been working hard to weave and integrate the two together in my new expansion.

Formally speaking, the piece is mono-thematic, and I have sewn together a sort of consilient theme and variations, being extremely careful not to abstract the theme very much, as my intent is to maintain the singularity and clarity of the melody and atmosphere with only the most minute changes. It might be better described as a “Theme-and- Varied- Repetitions” sort of thing. I have drawn notable inspiration from the music of Neil Young, and some from Flamenco guitar music. My textures are intended to toe the line, sometimes crossing from one side to the other, between the constant and constantly changing winds (physically), and some of the feelings you might get from them, from the solemn to the invigorating, all the while maintaining the fundamental oneness beneath the variations.

Another season ends...

As we embark upon May, another season of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra comes to a close. Our final full orchestra concert concluded on April 25 with our performance of Turandot. Now we look forward to our last Chamber concert, featuring the Dakota String Quartet and Dakota Wind Quintet on Sunday, May 17 at 2:30 pm.

The 2009-2010 season will kick off at the end of September, but between now and then we will be collaborating with the Porcupine Singers from Pine Ridge for the Lakota Music Project. The Dakota Chamber Orchestra will tour five cities with the Porcupine Singers (Flandreau, Sioux Falls, Mission, Pine Ridge and Rapid City). These two groups will play for each other and with each other, focusing on cultural music that expresses four common human experiences: love, war, mourning, and celebration.

The following concerts are free and open to the public:
Flandreau - Wednesday, May 20, 7 pm - Crystal Theater
Sioux Falls - Thursday, May 21, 7 pm - Multi-Cultural Center, downtown
Mission - Friday, May 22, 7 pm - Multi-Purpose Building, SGU Campus
Pine Ridge - Saturday, May 23, 6 pm - Red Cloud Indian School
Rapid City - Sunday, May 24, 2 pm - 1st Congregational Church of Christ

Join us for the Lakota Music Project tour! We are excited to share this cultural fusion with all!