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Press Releases
String Quartet ETHEL Records Album with American Indian Student Composers
Ada, Oklahoma (January 12, 2010) – America’s premier postclassical string quartet, ETHEL, today announced the recording and creation of a new album of contemporary classical works by 11 American Indian students (ages 13-19) of the Chickasaw Nation. Slated for a Summer 2010 release on the Thunderbird Records label, the album is the first in history to release works of American Indian student composers (students of renowned composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, a citizen of and official Composer-in-Residence of the Chickasaw Nation). The recording session will take place January 22-24 at Oklahoma City University’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music. The recording project is made possible by the Chickasaw Nation and Governor Bill Anoatubby, and is part of the ongoing groundbreaking initiatives created by the Chickasaw Nation Division of Arts and Humanities.
ETHEL has brought several workshops, tours, and performances to hundreds of children of American Indian reservations over the ensemble's 11-year history, both as part of ETHEL’s TruckStop® project, as well as in their role as Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project (NACAP). Collectively, these invaluable experiences add an essential ingredient to the album. “We’ve been so enriched by the people, cultures, and sounds we’ve experienced over the years that we feel utterly compelled to share them through music,” explains Ralph Farris, violist for ETHEL. “By working with young Native composers who have written music for string quartet, we give these children a chance to hear their music be performed by professional musicians.” Composer Jerod Tate says, “ETHEL has an unbelievable ability to express multiple styles of expression at the drop of a hat. This will be a life-changing experience for these young composers.”
All 11 students actively participate in all aspects of the album’s recording from start to finish. According to Alan Bise, producer/owner of Thunderbird Records, it is imperative that these students are involved in every possible way. “During the recording session, the composition students will be with me in the control room to co-produce the session. That is, they will discuss with ETHEL how they’d like their music to be performed, and what kind of feeling they are trying to convey. During classical recording sessions, we do not often get to collaborate with living composers, so the student’s involvement brings extra meaning to this recording.”
Also, in conjunction with the Chickasaw Nation Division of Arts and Humanities, Thunderbird Records will hold an artwork contest to help determine the album’s cover – whether it’s a painting, drawing, or photograph.
About ETHEL and ETHEL’s TruckStop® Project
Acclaimed as America’s premier postclassical string quartet, ETHEL boldly infuses contemporary concert music with fierce intensity, questioning the boundaries between performer and audience, tradition and technology. Formed in 1998, New York’s ebullient ETHEL is comprised of Juilliard-trained performers: Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello) and Mary Rowell (violin). ETHEL performs adventurous music of the past four decades including repertoire by Julia Wolfe, Phil Kline, David Lang, John Zorn, Steve Reich, JacobTV, Scott Johnson, Don Byron, Marcelo Zarvos, Evan Ziporyn, and Mary Ellen Childs. Recent season highlights have included: world premiere of Phil Kline’s SPACE at the gala reopening of Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall; world premiere of ETHEL’s TruckStop®: The Beginning at BAM’s Next Wave Festival; world premiere of RADIO by Osvaldo Golijov at the debut of WNYC Radio’s Jerome L. Greene Space; world premiere of ETHEL’s self-composed WAIT FOR GREEN with choreography by Annie-B Parson, commissioned by the World Financial Center; world premiere of an original live film score at Celebrate Brooklyn!; TROMP Festival with Colin Currie and Todd Rundgren; and the Grand Canyon Music Festival, where ETHEL is Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project. ETHEL’s latest recording, Light (Cantaloupe Records), was selected as #3 on Amazon.com’s “Best of 2006: Top Classical Editor’s Picks.”
Launched in 2007, ETHEL’s TruckStop® project examines, unites, and honors indigenous communities, cultures, and music. TruckStop® takes ETHEL on the road and around the globe to create innovative new work through rich collaborations with established and emerging artists from a vast array of genres, traditions, and geographic regions by means of community-driven residencies and locally hosted performances. ETHEL also conducts education programs based on the TruckStop® collaborative model; these programs range from master classes to short- and long-term residencies on campuses and in conservatories. From a week-long residency/concert with Kaotic Drumline at Dominican University in Chicago, Illinois, to a four-day residency/concert with NAMMY (Native American Music Award) award winning flutist Robert Mirabal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ETHEL’s TruckStop® tour has been rated as one of Billboard Magazine’s “Critics Choice Top 10s” of 2008. In 2009, ETHEL celebrated its 4th year as Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project (NACAP). Over 50,000 miles later, ETHEL has come away profoundly moved and changed by the human experience and continues to defy categories and pioneer uncharted musical landscapes. Support for ETHEL’s TruckStop® made possible by ETHEL’s Foundation for the Arts with funding provided, in part, by: American Music Center’s Aaron Copland Fund for Music: Performing Ensembles Program, The Amphion Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Greenwall Foundation, LEF Foundation, Meet the Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections Program, The Multi-Arts Production Fund, A Program of Creative Capital Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts. For more info, visit http://www.ethelcentral.com.
About the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy
The Chickasaw Nation is the only tribe in the United States that sponsors its own fine arts academy. Chickasaw and American Indian students, ages 8-19, major in Art, Dance, Literature, Music Composition, Theatre and Video Production, culminating in a grand public performance at the end of the academy. On the recommendation of Jerod Tate, Governor Bill Anoatubby approved the student composition recording project, and the tribe has further invited ETHEL to be the first American modern classical ensemble to perform at their inaugural Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival in 2010. http://www.chickasaw.net
About Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and is dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. He has received numerous commissions and his works have been performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Classical Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Colorado Ballet, to name a few. Iholba' and Tracing Mississippi, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, were recorded in 2007 by the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus and are currently available on Thunderbird Records. Mr. Tate is Composer-in-Residence for the Chickasaw Nation and the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy and Artistic Director for the Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival.
About Thunderbird Records
Thunderbird Records is dedicated to capturing and preserving the music of contemporary American Indians for distribution across the world. All Thunderbird releases include music by Indian composers or performances by Indian musicians. It strives for the highest artistic integrity as well as exceptional sonic quality in order to provide an outstanding listening experience. http://www.thunderbird-records.com
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ETHEL has brought several workshops, tours, and performances to hundreds of children of American Indian reservations over the ensemble's 11-year history, both as part of ETHEL’s TruckStop® project, as well as in their role as Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project (NACAP). Collectively, these invaluable experiences add an essential ingredient to the album. “We’ve been so enriched by the people, cultures, and sounds we’ve experienced over the years that we feel utterly compelled to share them through music,” explains Ralph Farris, violist for ETHEL. “By working with young Native composers who have written music for string quartet, we give these children a chance to hear their music be performed by professional musicians.” Composer Jerod Tate says, “ETHEL has an unbelievable ability to express multiple styles of expression at the drop of a hat. This will be a life-changing experience for these young composers.”
All 11 students actively participate in all aspects of the album’s recording from start to finish. According to Alan Bise, producer/owner of Thunderbird Records, it is imperative that these students are involved in every possible way. “During the recording session, the composition students will be with me in the control room to co-produce the session. That is, they will discuss with ETHEL how they’d like their music to be performed, and what kind of feeling they are trying to convey. During classical recording sessions, we do not often get to collaborate with living composers, so the student’s involvement brings extra meaning to this recording.”
Also, in conjunction with the Chickasaw Nation Division of Arts and Humanities, Thunderbird Records will hold an artwork contest to help determine the album’s cover – whether it’s a painting, drawing, or photograph.
About ETHEL and ETHEL’s TruckStop® Project
Acclaimed as America’s premier postclassical string quartet, ETHEL boldly infuses contemporary concert music with fierce intensity, questioning the boundaries between performer and audience, tradition and technology. Formed in 1998, New York’s ebullient ETHEL is comprised of Juilliard-trained performers: Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello) and Mary Rowell (violin). ETHEL performs adventurous music of the past four decades including repertoire by Julia Wolfe, Phil Kline, David Lang, John Zorn, Steve Reich, JacobTV, Scott Johnson, Don Byron, Marcelo Zarvos, Evan Ziporyn, and Mary Ellen Childs. Recent season highlights have included: world premiere of Phil Kline’s SPACE at the gala reopening of Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall; world premiere of ETHEL’s TruckStop®: The Beginning at BAM’s Next Wave Festival; world premiere of RADIO by Osvaldo Golijov at the debut of WNYC Radio’s Jerome L. Greene Space; world premiere of ETHEL’s self-composed WAIT FOR GREEN with choreography by Annie-B Parson, commissioned by the World Financial Center; world premiere of an original live film score at Celebrate Brooklyn!; TROMP Festival with Colin Currie and Todd Rundgren; and the Grand Canyon Music Festival, where ETHEL is Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project. ETHEL’s latest recording, Light (Cantaloupe Records), was selected as #3 on Amazon.com’s “Best of 2006: Top Classical Editor’s Picks.”
Launched in 2007, ETHEL’s TruckStop® project examines, unites, and honors indigenous communities, cultures, and music. TruckStop® takes ETHEL on the road and around the globe to create innovative new work through rich collaborations with established and emerging artists from a vast array of genres, traditions, and geographic regions by means of community-driven residencies and locally hosted performances. ETHEL also conducts education programs based on the TruckStop® collaborative model; these programs range from master classes to short- and long-term residencies on campuses and in conservatories. From a week-long residency/concert with Kaotic Drumline at Dominican University in Chicago, Illinois, to a four-day residency/concert with NAMMY (Native American Music Award) award winning flutist Robert Mirabal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ETHEL’s TruckStop® tour has been rated as one of Billboard Magazine’s “Critics Choice Top 10s” of 2008. In 2009, ETHEL celebrated its 4th year as Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project (NACAP). Over 50,000 miles later, ETHEL has come away profoundly moved and changed by the human experience and continues to defy categories and pioneer uncharted musical landscapes. Support for ETHEL’s TruckStop® made possible by ETHEL’s Foundation for the Arts with funding provided, in part, by: American Music Center’s Aaron Copland Fund for Music: Performing Ensembles Program, The Amphion Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Greenwall Foundation, LEF Foundation, Meet the Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections Program, The Multi-Arts Production Fund, A Program of Creative Capital Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts. For more info, visit http://www.ethelcentral.com.
About the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy
The Chickasaw Nation is the only tribe in the United States that sponsors its own fine arts academy. Chickasaw and American Indian students, ages 8-19, major in Art, Dance, Literature, Music Composition, Theatre and Video Production, culminating in a grand public performance at the end of the academy. On the recommendation of Jerod Tate, Governor Bill Anoatubby approved the student composition recording project, and the tribe has further invited ETHEL to be the first American modern classical ensemble to perform at their inaugural Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival in 2010. http://www.chickasaw.net
About Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and is dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. He has received numerous commissions and his works have been performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Classical Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Colorado Ballet, to name a few. Iholba' and Tracing Mississippi, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, were recorded in 2007 by the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus and are currently available on Thunderbird Records. Mr. Tate is Composer-in-Residence for the Chickasaw Nation and the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy and Artistic Director for the Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival.
About Thunderbird Records
Thunderbird Records is dedicated to capturing and preserving the music of contemporary American Indians for distribution across the world. All Thunderbird releases include music by Indian composers or performances by Indian musicians. It strives for the highest artistic integrity as well as exceptional sonic quality in order to provide an outstanding listening experience. http://www.thunderbird-records.com
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