Founded in 2001, the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project (NACAP) is an
outreach program
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...
of the Grand Canyon Music Festival that is dedicated to teaching Native American young people to compose concert music. Each year, young musicians work with a Native American
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and a
string quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
in residence
Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...
WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...
aired a feature about the project on its program
Soundcheck
A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small port ...
, narrated by
Ralph Farris Ralph Farris (born Ralph Howard Farris, Jr., 1970) is an American violist, violinist, composer, arranger, producer and conductor, best known as a founding member and artistic director of the ensemble ETHEL. Farris is an electric string player wit ...
of the string quartet
ETHEL
Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name.
Etymology and historic usage
The word means ''æthel'' "noble".
It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...
.
NACAP is a winner of Arizona Governor's Arts Award for Arts in Education and in 2011 was presented with a
National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
by First Lady
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
."Grand Canyon Music Festival's Native American Composer Apprentice Project wins award", ''Navajo-Hopi Observer'', 11/8/201 /ref>
Composers-in-residence
*2004–2019 -
Raven Chacon
Raven Chacon (born 1977) is a Diné-American composer, musician and artist. Born in Fort Defiance, Arizona within the Navajo Nation, Chacon became the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his '' Voiceless Mass'' in 2022. ...
(Navajo)
*2006 -
Adam Overton
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
*2003 -
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate (born July 25, 1968) is a Chickasaw classical composer and pianist.David Mallamud
*2001–2002 -
Brent Michael Davids
Brent Michael Davids (born June 4, 1959) is an American composer and flautist.
Davids is a member of the Stockbridge Munsee Community, a Native American tribe. He has composed for Zeitgeist, the Kronos Quartet, Joffrey Ballet, the National Symph ...
(Mahican)
String Quartets-in-residence
*2015 - present - Sweet Plantain Quartet: Eddie Venegas, Joe Deninzon,
Edward W. Hardy
Edward W. Hardy (born January 12, 1992) is an American composer, music director, violinist and violist. He is known as the composer, co-conceiver, music director, and violinist of the Off-Broadway show '' The Woodsman'' and is the owner of '' ...
(2015), Orlando Wells, and Leo Grinhauz.
*2012 - present - Catalyst Quartet
*2005 - 2012 -
ETHEL
Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name.
Etymology and historic usage
The word means ''æthel'' "noble".
It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...
*2004 -
Calder Quartet
The Calder Quartet (CQ) is a string quartet based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1998 at the University of Southern California, the group takes its name from American sculptor Alexander Calder. The ensemble is currently composed of its ...
Miró Quartet
The Miró Quartet is an internationally performing professional classical string quartet based in Austin, Texas. The group is the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas and its members are on the faculty of the Butler School of Music. It ...
See also
*
First Nations Composer Initiative
The American Composers Forum is an American organization that works for the promotion and assistance of American composers and contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minnes ...
*
Native American music
Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the
music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...