For the convenience of concertgoers 

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:oo pm.

The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry of

the East Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

Mailing address

2000b South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

www.nga.gov

cover: Paul Stevenson Oles, 1971, National Gallery ofArt Archives

The Sixty-seventh Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,692nd Concert

The Coast Orchestra

Timothy Long, conductor

Presented in honor ofthe exhibition 

George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings

November 9, 2008

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

East Building Auditorium

Admissionfree
Program

George Quincy

Choctaw Diaries (Parts 3 and 4/

3. Beauty Comes to the Eye

4. Journey to my Truth

George Quincy, piano, and Tim Archambault, Nativeflute

Brent Michael Davids

Cello Chili

Dawn Avery, cello

In the Land ofthe Head Hunters

A film by Edward S. Curtis

Music by John J. Braham, performed live by The Coast Orchestra

For more information on the Curtis film and project, see the accompanying program booklet Edward Curtis meets the Kwakwaka’wakw: In the

Land ofthe Head Hunters.

The performers dedicate this project to the Kwakwaka’wakw people

ofthe Queen Charlotte Strait region ofthe Central Coast ofBritish

Columbia, Canada.

The Musicians

THE COAST ORCHESTRA

The Coast Orchestra is an all-Native American Orchestra of classically trained

musicians founded by White Mountain Apache violinist Laura Ortman

in 2008. The Coast Orchestra was invited by the Smithsonian Institution’s

National Museum ofthe American Indian, the American Museum of Natural

History, and Rutgers University to perform the original score for a newly

restored print ofthe Edward S. Curtis directed film, In the Land ofthe Head

Hunters (1914). Tonight’s performance is presented in collaboration with the

National Museum ofthe American Indian. The film has also been shown at

the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, the Getty Museum

in Los Angeles, and the Moore Theater in Seattle. On November 14, 2008, it

will be screened on the opening night ofthe Margaret Mead Film and Video

Festival at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The Coast Orchestra members, among whom are graduates ofthe

Eastman, Juilliard, and Oberlin conservatories ofmusic, come from Alaska,

Arizona, New York, and Washington, d.c., and represent thirteen nations.

The ensemble has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln

Center, the National Museum ofthe American Indian, among other venues 

and festivals.

Members ofthe Coast Orchestra participating in this concert are:

Timothy Long (Choctaw/Creek), conductor

Steven Alvarez (Mescalero Apache/Yaqui /Athabascan), percussion

Tim Archambault (Kichesipirini), Nativeflute

Dawn Avery (Mohawk), cello

Elaine Benavides (Mescalero Apache/Yaqui/Comanche), oboe

Don Harry (Delaware/Anadarko ofOklahoma), tuba

Lisa Long (Muskogee/Creek-Choctaw),flute

Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), violin

George Quincy (Choctaw), piano

Vince Redhouse (Navajo), saxophone

Heidi Senungetuk (Inupiat), violin

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TIMOTHY LONG

Conductor and pianist Timothy Long enjoys a flourishing career in the United 

States and abroad. Upcoming engagements include debuts with the Orlando 

and Shreveport Opera companies as well as return engagements with the

Companion Star Ensemble in Sweden, Opera Colorado, Opera Theatre of

Saint Louis, and WolfTrap Opera. During the 2007-2008 season, his operatic conducting engagements included Richard Strauss’ Ariadne aufNaxos

with WolfTrap Opera, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at the University of

Colorado at Boulder, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at Opera Colorado, and Puccini’s

Madame Butterfly at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. For three years, Long served

as assistant conductor to Robert Spano at the Brooklyn Philharmonic, where 

he served as a cover conductor and conducted the orchestra for their 9/11

Memorial Concert in October 2001. He was also an associate conductor at

New York City Opera for two years. Long is a member ofthe Thlopthlocco

Tribal Town ofthe Creek Nation of Oklahoma.

TIMOTHY ARCHAMBAULT

American Indian flutist Timothy Archambault studied music theory at Brown

University and holds a bachelor of arts degree in architecture from the Rhode

Island School of Design. One of his recent works, Wessi vah-peh (recorded

with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra), is a recent release on

the Opus One label. His repertoire consists of early twentieth-century American Indian flute music and new compositions by American Indian composers.

Archambault was the first flute player in history to perform the old “warble”

technique within the context of new classical compositions. A hereditary 

senator ofthe Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, he is intent on reestablishing the tribe’s musical heritage through community-based instructional

websites in conjunction with North American ethnomusicologists. His

current projects include Suite tragique, a solo album featuring compositions

by David Yeagley dedicated to the Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, and

a collaborative performance titled “Cycles” with composer Raven Chacon.

4

GEORGE QUINCY

George Quincy was born and raised in Oklahoma. He earned two degrees 

at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he later taught. He

was musical advisor to the renowned dancer and choreographer Martha

Graham and has composed, orchestrated, and conducted music for theater,

dance, film, opera, television, and the concert hall. Quincy’s music has been 

performed extensively across the United States and in Europe in Alice Tully

Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Intrepid Museum, among other venues. He has 

won several ascap Awards as well as awards from Meet the Composer. The

world premiere of Quincy’s Pocahontas in the Court ofJames I was performed

by Elaine Comparone’s ensemble, The Queen’s Chamber Band, at Merkin

Concert Hall in New York City. New York’s Dance Collective used Quincy’s

“Voices from Ground Zero” in their “Warp Redux” and other music from 

Quincy’s Choctaw Nights recording (Albany Records) for dance works performed in Taos, New Mexico. Quincy has also served as musical director for

the New Dance Group Arts Center and as musical director for The Times 

Square Kidz, a chorus ofyoung Broadway professionals for whom Quincy

and his wife, Thayer Burch, write songs.

DAWN AVERY

Dawn Avery has worked with a diverse group ofwell-known artists, from

Luciano Pavarotti to Sting, and has collaborated and performed with John

Cage, Mischa Maisky, Joanne Shenandoah, and Glen Velez, among others. 

She has performed at the Banlieu Bleu, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Montreux

Jazz Festivals in Europe, and in the United States at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln

Center, and Merkin Hall as well as New York’s Knitting Factory, La Mama,

and Thread Waxing Space. Specializing in the performance of Native American music with her own ensemble okenti, she also performs indigenous

classical music with her cello, voice, and percussion duo, cellovision! She

was nominated for a Grammy for her work on Grover Washington’s Breath

ofHeaven. Now working on her doctorate in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland College Park, Avery is a professor ofmusic at Montgomery

5
College in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she directs the World 

Ensemble and produces the World Arts Festival. Her North American Indian

Cello Project received funding from the First Nations Composers Initiative,

enabling her to commission new works by several Native composers, including Timothy Archambault, Raven Chacon, and Ron Warren. Dawn Avery

was recently elected to the board of directors ofthe American Composers

Forum, where she will serve on the education and curriculum committees

as well as the committee for the First Nations Composers Initiative.

LAURA ORTMAN

Violinist Laura Ortman is the founder ofthe Coast Orchestra. She performs

with several New York bands, including the Dust Dive, Stars Like Fleas, and

Silver Summit. She has toured extensively in Canada, Europe, and the United

States. With her colleague from the Native American duo National Braid, 

she composed an original score for violin, electric guitar, and samplers to

accompany the 1929 silent film Redskin by Victor Scherzinger. The duo performed the soundtrack live in many venues worldwide, including the Louvre

in Paris. Ortman also plays the electric guitar, piano, musical saw, samplers,

and organ. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of

Fine Arts where she studied painting, sculpture, and performance art.

STEVEN ALVAREZ

Steven Alvarez, The Coast Orchestra’s percussionist and timpanist, graduated

from San Jose State University with bachelor of arts degrees in music and

history and a minor in philosophy. He works professionally as a percussionist,

vocalist, stage actor, film and stage producer, and music educator. He is producing a film on the Alaskan Native and Inuit games, and performs a theater

piece that couples live storytelling and singing with film. As a percussionist,

he worked with the Monterey and Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestras. As a

guest artist for the Monterey Jazz Festival, he performed with jazz artist Bobby

Hutcherson and has shared the stage with Lloyd Bridges, Doc Severinsen,

and Jethro Tull. He also served as an adjunct instructor at the University

of Alaska. Alvarez performs with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the

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Anchorage Opera, and the Anchorage Concert Chorus. As a solo artist, Alvarez has performed at the Kennedy Center and at the National Museum of

the American Indian’s Classical Native Series. A former executive director

ofthe Anchorage Festival of Music, he currently serves as the director of cultural education and strategic initiatives for the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

ELAINE BENAVIDES

Oboist Elaine Benavides’ wide range ofmusical abilities includes composing,

producing, mastering, and editing. Benavides is an aerialist, fencer, fireperformance artist, instrumentalist (drums, flute, oboe, harp), modern belly

dancer, stilt walker, urban street dancer, and vocalist. After completing her

studies at Juilliard, she created soundtrack music for independent films and

music labels. She has also created and directed off-Broadway shows, created

and designed costumes, painted sets for music videos, and constructed props

and designs for many magazines.

DON HARRY

Don Harry, who plays the tuba in The Coast Orchestra, attended the University of Houston and Indiana University. Harry is the principal tuba player

ofthe Buffalo Philharmonic and a member ofthe Eastman Brass. Since 1997

he has served as an associate professor oftuba at the Eastman School of

Music, where he is caretaker ofthe Edward A. Jablonsky Award for excellent

progress in tuba study. He has also taught at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and Lanston University. Harry has taught and

performed at the Eastern Music Festival and the Winter Festival ofCampos

de Jordao, Brazil. He has performed with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, the

Boston Symphony, the Chautauqua Symphony, Keith Brion’s New Sousa

Band, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pro Philharmonia, l’Orchestre

de Paris, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Toronto Symphony. He has

been a featured soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Colorado Philharmonic, The Harvey Phillips Northwest Big Brass Bash, the Ringgold Band, 

Sousa Live at WolfTrap, and the United States Army Band at West Point.

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LISA LONG

Lisa Long began flute studies at age ten in Seminole, Oklahoma, and continued her studies with Barbara Davis, a former student ofWalfrid Kujala,

at Oklahoma City University, where she was principal flutist for numerous

orchestral, operatic, and musical theater performances. Long regularly

performs as a chamber musician and soloist.

VINCE REDHOUSE

Vince Redhouse, The Coast Orchestra’s saxophonist, was born and raised in

Monterey, California, and began playing woodwinds at age seven. His first

two albums were nominated for Grammy Awards. Although the tenor saxophone has always been his first voice and sound, he has frequently been

honored for his work on the traditional Native flute.

HEIDI SENUNGETUK

Violinist Heidi Senungetuk earned a bachelor ofmusic degree in performance at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. As a fellowship recipient

at the University of Michigan School of Music, she received the master of

music degree in violin performance with highest honors. During her studies

she performed as a scholarship student at summer festivals, including the

Aspen Music Festival, the Breckenridge Music Institute, the Kent/Blossom

Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra. She has been a member

ofthe Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra of New Orleans, and the Tulsa Philharmonic. She was also a faculty member at the Punahou School in Hawaii. Senungetuk appeared in recital at 

the Rasmuson Theater ofthe National Museum ofthe American Indian in

Washington, D.C., as part ofthe premiere Classic Native concert series in

2006. In 2007 she was a guest artist with the Hiland Correctional Center

Women’s Orchestra, the only orchestra ofits kind in the United States. She 

performs regularly with the Antheir Classics Concerts series.

The Program

The mission ofThe Coast Orchestra is to promote classically trained Native

American musicians and to perform music about Native Americans. In

this case, the orchestra is performing music by the non-Native composer of

the original score for Curtis’ film, John J. Braham (1848-1919). Although

arguably created with good intentions, the score is based on fantastic ideas

about Native people and Hollywoodesque themes. The Coast Orchestra

intends to reinterpret this romanticized and stereotypical score from a

contemporary context and a specifically Native perspective. It also believes 

that the time is long overdue for a classically-trained Native orchestra to

present live music.

About his suite, Choctaw Diaries for native flute, George Quincy writes: “[It]

evokes a Native American landscape ofspirit, the dawn of a day from another

time, meshing with my own Oklahoma childhood recollections. It recalls the

prairie, the canyon, the expanse ofsky. The four movements represent The

Awakening of Spirit,’ That we may Touch the Earth,’ ‘Beauty comes to the

Eye,’ and ‘Journey of My Truth.’ The voice ofthe Native flute calls for these

experiences to be eternal. The piano represents the natural surroundings.”

Cello Chili was commissioned by cellist Dawn Avery for voice and cello,

so that it can be performed by a single performer. The singer is called upon

to speak in a singing manner (spoken song), and the intent ofthe performance is to create a somewhat hypnotic experience ofshifting rhythms.

The rhythms are derived directly from the text itself, a fictitious recipe for

a distinctly American stew made of green chiles and pieces of a cello.

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CELLO CHILI

Cooked up for Dawn Avery

1 neck, body or belly, cut into small pieces

1 whole scroll, hard-rolled

1 carved tail piece, with spike attached

2 wiggly ribs, dry-rubbed

4 Pe§s (grated) or 2 cups powdered frogs

i medium nut, lickety cut

4 roasted green chiles, peeled and diced

To make a bowl ofblessedness, boil whole scroll in large bowl. Add the chiles

and other ingredients. Cover loosely for about 6 minutes. Simmer profusely

or until the grumbling stew discharges a passing tone. Season to taste, and

always drink upstream from the herd.

But the text of Cello Chili is also part ofthe American Indian experience,

with two quotes from famed Cherokee humorist Will Rogers (1879-1935). 

Referring to chili as a “bowl ofblessedness,” Rogers also advised that one

should “always drink upstream from the herd.” Rogers, a public supporter

of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, helped to bring assistance to poor

Americans and American Indians following the Great Depression. The older

stone homes from that era, affectionately known as “fdr houses,” still dot

many reservations today, and are still standing. The renowned CherokeeQuapaw composer Dr. Louis Wayne Ballard (1931-2007) honored the humorist with his Portrait ofWill Rogers, a cantata that premiered in 1972 under the

baton of Marin Alsop. In the spirit ofWill Rogers, Louis Ballard, and American Indian humor, Cello Chili is served up with a heaping helping offun and

sincere admiration.

Notes on Cello Chili by Brent Michael Davids

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The Sixty-seventh Season ofConcerts

at the National Gallery ofArt

November-December 2008

Sunday evenings at 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

NOVEMBER

16 Euclid String Quartet

Quartets by Beethoven,

Grieg, and Hinson

23 The Singers’ Companye

Music by Native American 

and other American composers

Presented in honor of

George de Forest Brush:

The Indian Paintings

30 Verge Ensemble

Music by Elliott Carter

and Jeffrey Mumford

Presented in connection

with the 3genFestival

DECEMBER

7 Till Fellner, pianist

Beethoven: Sonatas nos.

16,17,18, and 28

First concert in a cycle

of Beethoven’s complete

piano sonatas

14 New York Opera Society

and Soloists from Norway

Norwegian Christmas

Festival Concert

21 Alessandra Marc, soprano

With the National Gallery

Chamber Orchestra

Stephen Ackert and Dingwall

Fleary, guest conductors

Danielle DeSwert, pianist 

Music by Ernest Bloch

and other composers

Presented in honor of

Oceans, Rivers, and Skies:

Ansel Adams, Robert Adams,

and Alfred Stieglitz

28 National Gallery Orchestra

Manfred Knoop, guest conductor

New Year Concert