Classical music compositions of three Chickasaw students drew thunderous applause from music fans at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts November 8, 2008. My son was one of those students, and the others were Kate Duty and Courtney Parchcorn. The three students were selected for the unique opportunity for the works that they had composed during the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy under the instruction of Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Tate.
The program was sponsored through Classical Native conducted by the National Museum of the American Indian. This is the third year from the program to offer performances at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage as a part of Classical Native. This year, the artists featured were all students. There were six students total that had been under the tutelage of Jerod Tate. Jerod first worked with the Chickasaw students during the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy. The works of the students were performed by a young quartet called Ambrosia. The young composers and Ambrosia had the chance to work together to perfect the performance.
Before a standing room crowd, the performance touched us all. It was really something to get to listen to the music that my son Wyas had written at home. I remember hearing him as he worked out the music score several summers ago. It was really touching.
