The United States celebrated Native American Heritage Day on Friday, November 27. In honor of this day classical host Kevin Doherty profiles several Native American composers and musicians who might not be on your radar. You can find a more in-depth look at the Native Americans in classical music in Gail Wein’s article for New Music Box.
Louis W. Ballard
Born in 1931 on the Quapaw Indian Reservation in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, Louis W. Ballard is a member of the Cherokee and Quapaw Nations and is considered the father of Native American composition. Ballard studied music at Oklahoma and Tulsa Universities and utilized his degree in Music Education to teach in Oklahoma Public Schools. Ballard studied composition with notable 20th Century composers like Darius Milhaud and Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco. He received his first big break when the Phoenix Symphony performed his piece Why the Duck has a Short Tail in 1967 conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
Raven Chacon
Raven Chacon works and lives in Los Angeles. He is a chamber music composer, a performer of experimental noise music and an installation artist. Chacon was born and raised on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. He has served as composer-in-residence for the Native American Composer Apprentice Project (NACAP) since 2004, teaching string quartet composition to hundreds of American Indian high school students living on reservations in the Southwest United States. Chacon also performs regularly as a solo artist, as well as with numerous ensembles in the Southwest.
Mary Youngblood
Born in Kirkland, Washington in 1958, of Aleut and Seminole ancestry, Mary Youngblood became the first female Native flute player to rise to national acclaim, winning two Grammy awards for Best Native American Music Album in 2002 and 2006. Youngblood planned on attending Fresno State to become an art therapist but says, “music just stole my soul away at that time.” She often played gigs in bars and high schools in Sacramento. Though she was a classically trained flutist, Youngblood didn’t learn to play Native flute until she was in her 30s. Still, she played her first gig in less than 40 days after first picking up the instrument.
Connor Chee
Navajo pianist and composer Connor Chee began playing piano at a young age and made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 12. The World Piano Competition gold medal winner is known for combining his classical piano training with his Native American heritage. Chee is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Chee's unique sound is inspired by traditional Navajo chants and songs, and the composer has released three studio albums to date.
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma and is dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. Born in Norman, Oklahoma in 1968, he attended Northwestern University in Chicago for piano performance. Tate was first commissioned by his choreographer mother, Dr. Patricia Tate, to write a score for the ballet Winter Moons. Tate is the artistic director for the Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival and composer-in-residence for the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy, a program for children in Oklahoma under the age of 20. | 
