ChoralQuest Premiere - “Taloowa' Chipota” by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate

On May 15, students in Lisa Riggle’s choral class will have a unique opportunity: they will sing the world-premiere of a new work by composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate. The piece, “Taloowa’ Chipota”, was written as the third piece for ChoralQuestTM, a new series of music for middle-school choirs published by the American Composers Forum. The series is designed to place world-class choral composers in the middle-school classroom at no cost to the schools. The premiere performance of “Taloowa' Chipota” will take place at 7pm at the Dickson Auditorium (4762 State Highway 199, Ardmore, OK).

This fall, composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate began a residency at Dickson Middle School in Dickson, Oklahoma.  The school’s choir teacher, Lisa Riggle, worked with Tate to engage her students in the composition process and introduce them to the composer and his work. Throughout the residency, the choral students at Dickson Middle School had the rare opportunity to get to know a composer: to interact with Tate and learn about writing music from a living composer.

Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate was born in 1968 in Norman, Oklahoma and is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.  He is dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. Of this new work, he said:

“Taloowa' Chipota” was another wonderful opportunity to create classical repertoire that contains traditional Chickasaw melodies, rhythmic textures and language.  In terms of race and ethnicity, Oklahoma is a distinctly unique state.  Most public schools, like the Dickson school, have a dynamic mix of American Indian (from several tribes) and non-Indian children. In composing the work for youth, I was able to introduce a Chickasaw experience to a diverse group of students in southern Oklahoma.  In addition, I strengthened my own relationship with my Chickasaw community and demonstrated to the Chickasaws in the chorus how our culture can positively impact classical music.  Rehearsals with the kids have been a wonderful experience and they have embraced the technical challenges of the work with great enthusiasm and success.  I am personally very excited to have composed, rehearsed and [to soon] premiere a new Chickasaw classical work, all within the tribal boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation.