Monday, February 8, 2010

A Look at Classical Native Music through Indigenous Eyes

MMaP, the Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place is pleased to announce that Dawn Avery of Montgomery College will be spending the month of February in residence at the MUN School of Music.

About her visit to MUN, Ms Avery said: “I’m delighted to be at MUN with such enthusiastic students, talented faculty, and the brilliant mind and generous spirit of Bev Diamond. I look forward to exploring ideas of tradition and modernity in the sounds and sentiments this place evokes as I work with the World Music Ensemble on a new classical Native composition and collaborate with Bev on a scholarly paper on Indigenous composition.”

While she is here, Ms Avery will be actively participating in the teaching, performance and research life at the MUN School of Music, as well as pursuing her own research. Her activities while at MUN include:

· Participating in a workshop and concert at the Newfound Music festival

· Teaching a module in the World Music Ensemble where students will learn several of her own compositions that draws in Native American musical elements

· Giving a lecture in MMaP’s Music, Media and Culture lecture series on February 16: Tekeni – two worlds: a look at Classical Native Music through Indigenous Eyes

· Collaborating with Dr. Beverley Diamond on a research project on Indigenous composition

· Editing a manuscript for Mohawk Elder Janice Longboat on a project sponsored by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation using culture as a means for healing aboriginal women from the legacy of residential school abuse.

· Writing a string quartet

Ms Avery specializes in the performance of contemporary Native American music. Her recent recording Tulpe was nominated for a Grammy award in the classical crossover and chamber music categories. She has also produced an annual World Arts Festival for the past seven years. She also has two CDs that feature a unique combination of classical music and Native American music.

A composer, cellist, vocalist and educator, Ms Avery is equally comfortable performing at Lincoln Centre as she is in a sweat lodge. She specializes in the performance of contemporary Native American music with her own ensemble, as a soloist for the North American Indian Cello Project and in her native classical trio, Three Sides Taagi.

Working with musical luminaries from Luciano Pavarotti to Sting, Ms Avery has spent years honing her musical talents, collaborating and performing with the likes of John Cale, John Cage, David Darling, Reza Derakshani, Sussan Deyhim, Ustad Sultan Kahn, Karsh Kale, Mischa Maisky, R. Carlos Nakai, Baba Olatunji, Joanne Shenandoah and Glen Velez.

For more information, or to get in touch with Dawn Avery, please contact: Kristin Harris Walsh, Project Coordinator at MMaP, kharriswalsh@mun.ca, 737-2051.

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