Lakota Music Project in Bloomington, MN

The
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra
's
Lakota Music Project
was spearheaded by the orchestra's conductor,
Delta David Gier
, and leaders of the Lakota and Dakota Native American communities. The goal was to build artistic and cultural bridges between the two communities. The process of getting the project off the ground was complex, but it has been in existence since the mid-2000s decade and has spawned concerts of various kinds, including some by groups other than the symphony. Here, the
South Dakota Symphony
performs works commissioned as part of the project by both Native American and non-Native composers; the latter are represented by the symphony's oboist,
Jeffrey Paul
, who added parts for Lakota flute and song to earlier compositions. All of the music mixes the two traditions but, more importantly, does so in different ways. Two of the pieces involve Lakota choirs singing in traditional style, and these are riveting.
Brent Michael Davids
'
Black Hills Olowan
juxtaposes modernist orchestral passages with a traditional song from the
Creekside Singers
, and the song is also mixed with an orchestral rendition in a fascinating kind of simultaneous dialogue. Equally absorbing is the arrangement by
Ted Wiprud
of
Amazing Grace
, in the Lakota language, for Native American flute and singers.
Wiprud
was the successor as the orchestra's resident composer to Chickasaw composer
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
, represented himself here by the orchestral song cycle
Waktegli OlowaÅ? ("Victory Songs")
, with linked songs that build to a powerful climax. The
is unlike anything else attempted by an American orchestra, and it has generated music that deserves multiple hearings and, indeed, further performances. ~ James Manheim