Playlist: Celebrating Native American Heritage Month
November 25, 2022
By Connie Kim
Observed every November in the United States, National Native American Heritage Month celebrates the diverse histories, cultures, and traditions of Native American and Indigenous populations and promotes awareness of the unique challenges Native people have experienced and continue to face today. This selection of works from Connor Chee, Barbara Croall, R. Carlos Nakai, and more celebrates the myriad contributions Native American and Indigenous artists have made to classical music and showcases the beauty of blended and traditional musical forms.
- “Lowak Shoppala’, Act I” (Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate) – Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate: Lowak Shoppala’
- “Navajo Vocable for Piano No. 1″ (Connor Chee) – The Navajo Piano (Revisited)
- “Giishkaapkag (Where the Rock is Cut Through)” (Barabara Croall) – This Love Between us: Prayers for Unity
- “Nbiidaasamishkaamin” (Barbara Croall) – Mosaïque
- “Song For the Morning Star” (R. Carlos Nakai) – Canyon Trilogy
- “4 American Indian Piano Preludes: No. 2, Tabideh” (Louis W. Ballardi) – Walk in Beauty
- “Monsoon” (Gabriel Ayala) – Passion, Fire & Grace
- “Testament of Atom” (Brent Michael Davids) – Walk in Beauty
- “The Garden of Earthly Delights” (Ian Cusson) – Ecology of Being
- “Stars” (Connor Chee) – Scenes from Dinétah
- “Ambe (Live)” (Andrew Balfour) – 2020 Texas Music Education Association
- “Ancestral Home” (R. Carlos Nakai) – Canyon Trilogy
- “Orange Shirt Day” (Melody McKiver) – Returning Home (Original Motion Pucture Soundtrack)
- “Corn Grinding Song No. 2” (Connor Chee) – The Navajo Piano (Revisited)
- “Awakening of The Beauty Within” (Kelvin Mockingbird) – Sacred Fire
- “Native American Suite: Zuni Sunrise Song” (Brent Michael Davids) – The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass
- “Round Dance” (Cris Derksen) – Cris Derksen: Orchestral Powwow