South Hadley, MA (February 18, 2025) – On February 28, 2025 at 7:30pm, Chickasaw American composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s new opera Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker), conducted by Tianhui Ng will have its East Coast Premiere at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. The event features the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra, Mount Holyoke College Glee Club, and Mount Holyoke Symphony Chorus in Abbey Memorial Chapel. Costumes have been designed by award-winning Chickasaw weaver, fiber expert, and textile artist Margaret Roach Wheeler.
Tate’s two-act opera Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker), depicts the Chickasaw origin story of the tribe’s sacred turtle shell shakers, used in traditional stomp dancing and social songs. The first opera composed entirely in an American Indian language, Shell Shaker made its world premiere with Canterbury Voices and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, conducted by TianHui Ng at Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City on Sunday, October 27, 2024. Soprano Katelyn Morton, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, sang the lead role of Loksi’ (Turtle) in this story of a Chickasaw girl who is teased for being too slow to keep up with the other children. After seeking wisdom from her grandmother, family, and the tribe’s trusted River Spirit, the young girl learns she must leave home to find her purpose. She sets out on a long woodland journey, returning a cultural hero, enriched by the divine gift of the turtle shell shakers and knowledge of the Chickasaw people’s new homelands.
Tate says, “I am thrilled for my people to hear their language sung on the concert stage and I hope they feel proud when the world witnesses our rich legacy, expressed in a dramatic and theatrical performance.”
Program Information
Friday, February 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Mount Holyoke College Presents Jerod Tate’s Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker) [East Coast Premiere]
Abbey Memorial Chapel, Main Chapel | South Hadley, MA
Tickets: $20 General Admission, $15 Students and Seniors
Event Link: https://events.mtholyoke.edu/event/shell-shaker-east-coast-premiere
Cast:
Cristina María Castro, soprano – Loksi’, Chickasaw girl
Charles Calotta, tenor – Hiloha/Loksi’ Sipokni’, Chickasaw Boy, and Old Turtle
Kirsten C. Kunkle, spinto soprano – Ippo’si’ Sipokni’, Loksi’’s Grandmother/Grandmother Turtle
Nicole Van Every, soprano – Ishki’, Loksi’’s Mother
Mark Billy, bass/baritone – Inki’, Loksi’’s Father
Grant Youngblood, baritone – Okhina’, River
Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra
Tianhui Ng, conductor
Mount Holyoke College Glee Club
Colin Britt, director
About Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate is a classical composer and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. The Washington Post raved that “Tate is rare as an American Indian composer of classical music. Rarer still is his ability to effectively infuse classical music with American Indian nationalism.” He is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee and a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from The Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2021, he was appointed a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State.
Among many recent premieres, Tate’s highlights include commissions from the American Composers Orchestra, Cantori NY and the New York Philharmonic – for which The New York Times praised Tate’s “gifts for texture and color.” The Dover Quartet premiered his new string quartet Woodland Songs nationwide, paired with his orchestration of Pura Fé Crescioni’s Rattle Songs.
Tate’s commissioned works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Canterbury Voices, Dale Warland Singers, Santa Fe Desert Chorale and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. His music was also featured in the HBO series Westworld.
Tate is a three-time commissioned recipient from the American Composers Forum, a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program recipient, a Cleveland Institute of Music Alumni Achievement Award recipient, a governor-appointed Creativity Ambassador for the State of Oklahoma and an Emmy Award-winner for his work on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority documentary The Science of Composing.
Tate’s recording credits include Iholba’ (The Vision) for Solo Flute, Orchestra and Chorus and Tracing Mississippi, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, recorded by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, on the GRAMMY® Award-winning label Azica Records. In 2021, Azica released Tate’s Lowak Shoppala’ (Fire and Light), recorded by Nashville String Machine with the Chickasaw Nation Children’s Chorus and Dance Troupe and the label recently released Tate’s inaugural composition, Winter Moons, and his MoonStrike, recorded by Apollo Chamber Players. His Metropolitan Museum of Art commission Pisachi (Reveal) is featured on ETHEL String Quartet’s album Documerica.
Tate earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Northwestern University and his Master of Music in Piano Performance and Composition from The Cleveland Institute of Music. His middle name, Impichchaachaaha’, means “their high corncrib” and is his inherited traditional Chickasaw house name. Learn more at www.jerodtate.com.
About Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College empowers students to learn beyond boundaries and make change for all. Engaging with our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and authentically bold culture, students break with convention to open new possibilities for their futures, communities and the world. The leading gender-diverse women’s college, Mount Holyoke’s vibrant campus and global community in South Hadley, Massachusetts is home to 2,200 students. Together, with 40,000 alums in 146 countries, we build on over 180 years of trailblazing tradition to move us all forward. To learn more, visit www.mtholyoke.edu.
*Photo Credit: Shevaun Williams