December 7, 2009, SAINT PAUL, MN. Six grants ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 have been awarded to American Indian/Indigenous musical artist in the sixth round of grant making from First Nations Composer Initiative (FNCI), a program of ACF. The awards are made under the Common Ground Grant Program, generously funded with the support of the Ford Foundation’s IllumiNation portfolio.
FNCI is dedicated to serving the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native/First Nations/Indigenous makers of new music throughout Indian Country. FNCI is committed to supporting activities that build careers of Indigenous musicians, including commissions, residencies, performance and production, travel/study, and outreach.
Please join us in congratulating the following sixth round 2009 Common Ground grant recipients and feel free to visit their web pages:
Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) New Mexico/Genre: Traditional. Funding to assist in the production of an original traditional music album. This musical project will be a series of honor songs. Songs will feature Native flutes, turtle shell and other traditional Mvskoke rattles as well as multiples voices both sung and spoken. www.joyharjo.com
Shirley Kendall and Maria Williams (Tlingit/Haida) Alaksa/Genre: Traditional. Funding to assist in developing both a written songbook and a DVD songbook based on Tlingit social songs. The idea behind the songbook is to provide the Tlingit song texts, the cultural contextual information, correct pronunciation and the clan history association with the songs.
Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Mestis/Cree-non status) Ontario/Genre: Contemporary/Multidisciplinary. Funding to assist in developing and creating an audio map of Cheryl’s journeys around Toronto by singing the urban landscape, animals, people and their activities. www.myspace.com/cheryllhirondelle www.myspace.com/mgirlmusic
Shelley Morningsong (Northern Cheyenne) New Mexico/Genre: Contemporary. Funding to assist with musician and producer fees for new album “Full Circle,” which will consist of songs that encourage healing, awareness and empowerment for the people. www.shelleymorningsongonline.com
Murray Porter (Mohawk) Vancouver BC/Genre: Blues. Funding to assist with musician fees, rehearsal and studio time, mixing and mastering expenses for CD recording project of 12 original blues songs. www.myspace.com/murrayportermusic
Janet Rogers (Mohawk/Tuscarora) Victoria BC/Genre: Spoken Word. Funding to be used to assist with a tour plan for live performance of spoken word works accompanied by violinist Swil Kanim and cellist Cris Derksen and development of video component which will run simultaneously with performance. www.janetmarierogers.com
Panelist for the sixth round were:
Dawn Avery (Mohawk descent): As an educator, Dawn helps to nurture future generations of musicians as Professor of Music at Montgomery College where she has produced an annual World Arts Festival for six years. Dawn Avery’s compositions span from orchestral to chamber. Her music can be heard on a new film release (Summer 2008) on Rich Heape Films, entitled, “Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding Schools.” Dawn Avery was recently elected to be on the board of the national organization, American Composers Forum in which she will be on education and curriculum committees as well as the committee for the First Nations Composers Initiative.
Lisa Long (Muscogee/Creek-Choctaw): began flute studies at the age of 10 in Seminole, Oklahoma and continued her studies with Barbara Davis, a former student of Walfrid Kujala, at Oklahoma City University, where she was principal flutist for numerous orchestral, operatic, and musical theatre performances. Long regularly performs as a chamber musician and soloist. She is a member of the first Native American chamber orchestra, the Coast Orchestra, and has performed at the National Museum of the American Indian, Kennedy Center, and The American Museum of Natural History, National Gallery of Art and the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Watso (Abnaki): Artist, Community Activist and American Indian business owner. Watso has been involved in the American Indian arts for well over 20 years and has served on many art’s panels throughout the years. Although Watso is not a musician he brought to the panel a discerning ear and open mind for music connected to our various indigenous communities. Watso would like you all to know that he was honored to have been asked to serve as a panelist for the Common Ground re-granting program.
