Classical Recordings
Tulpe (2008)
Dawn Avery & Sarah Davol and EngleWinds
​Contemporary classical chamber music based on Native themes by Mohawk composer, Dawn Avery and Englewinds director, Sarah Davol. Lovers of Classical Music, Native American Culture, Woodwinds, Percussion and Strings, or one of the newest genres in Music (Contemporary Native Classical) will like this CD!
To Purchase
Viento (2006)
Recording by the duo CelloVision! with
Dawn Avery (Cello/Voice) & Tom McGrath (Percussion)
Chamber music using indigenous themes written for modern dance
“Working with Dawn Avery creates the perfect collaboration between dancer, composer, and choreographer, where creativity and innovation can thrive. Dawn has a wonderful talent for composing and performing for modern dance.” -Mimi Garrard of Mimi Garrard Dance Theatre Co., NYC
To Purchase
“Ecology of Being” on Marquis Classics features six commissioned works inspired by nature and the climate emergency. These pieces speak to our interconnectedness to the environment, our complicity in the world’s rapid changes, and what we are leaving the next generation. They also pay tribute to the gloriousness of our earth and the power of nature, recognizing our dependence on it for survival, resilience, and healing, and our responsibilities as stewards of the Earth.
Duo Concertante - Nancy Dahn (violin) and Timothy Steeves(piano) - perform five original compositions commissioned especially for this project by Dawn Avery, Carmen Braden, Ian Cusson, Melissa Hui and Bekah Simms.
Dahn says the Duo conceived Ecology of Being with the “hope that these works and performances will inspire reflection on our connection and interconnections to this planet and our complicity in the world’s climate changes.” The project is also about “paying tribute to the power of nature and recognizing our dependence on it for survival, resilience, and healing” says Steeves.
North American Indian Cello Project
began in 2006 thanks to a grant from the First Nations Composers Initiative project supported through the Ford Foundation's Indigenous Knowledge, Expressive Culture Suinine commissioned works, to commission original works by Native American composers. ​​​​
TIO'S MOVEMENT ONE cello suite
Featuring the music of Dawn Avery, Ty Defoe, Raven Chacon, & Tio Bicenti
Works commissioned by Dawn Avery for the North American Indian Cello Project:
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Cello Chili by Brent Michael Davids (Mohican)
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Táágo Dez’a by Raven Chacon Navajo Dine)
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Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello by Juantio Becenti (Navajo Dine)
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Prelude by Tim Archambault (Kichespirini)
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Dances by Ron Warren (Echota Tsalagi)
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Kachina Suite by Louis Ballard (Quawpaw)
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Decolonization by Dawn Avery (Mohawk heritage)
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Musings at Dawn by RC Nakai (Navajo-Ute)I
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Indigenous Indigena by RC Nakai (Navajo Ute)
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Four Directions by Alan Lechusza (Luiseño/Maidu),
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Vision Quest by George Quincy (Choctaw)
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Upcoming Commission for composition by Trevor Reed (Navajo)
video from live show at Montgomery College, with MC Faculty and Staff
BRIDGING TWO WORLDS excerpt
music by Native Classical Composers
featuring R.C. Nakai and Dawn Avery
To read more about the Native Classical movement, compositions, and composers, you can see the PhD dissertation entitled “NATIVE CLASSICAL: MUSICAL MODERNITIES, INDIGENOUS RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES, AND A KANIENKÉHA (MOHAWK) CONCEPT OF NON:WA (NOW)” written in 2014 by Dr. Dawn Avery, “Tékeni – Two Worlds, Many Borders: A Look at Classical Native Music through Indigenous Eyes” by Dawn Ieriho:kwats Avery in the journal MusicCultures (Vol. 39, No. 1, 2012), and as a chapter in the upcoming publication by Wesleyan University Press in a book titled Music and Modernity among First Peoples of North America, edited by Victoria Levine and Dylan Robinson.
A hard copy of a 6 minute educational demo CD and an 11 minute demo DVD of the first NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN CELLO PROJECT is available upon request.