Recording: Laura Ortman

Artist: Laura Ortman

Song: For Zitkála-Šá [excerpt] [composer: Raven Chacon]

Recorded at The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst (Raven Chacon mini-fest – Night 2), April 13, 2019.

Laura Ortman - For Zitkála-Šá [excerpt]

Three nights examining the work of composer/musician Raven Chacon from different angles served as an interesting mirror to the X Avant festival earlier in the season. I wasn't able to make the first night, with the Array Ensemble surveying some of Chacon's chamber pieces, but I was eager for this night. A tribute to the Dakota violin teacher, activist, and librettist for the first American Indian opera, "For Zitkála-Šá" is a modular composition, with a series of solo segments created by Chacon to deploy and challenge the skills of a series of specific collaborators. Each with a graphic score that provides structure but leaves a lot of room to interpretation, there was anguish, joy, and technically-demanding sounds from all the performers. This section, performed by violinist Laura Ortman, collapsed the bow/bough distinction, a tree branch sweeping across her strings and planting a forest of reverb.

At this posting, the archived livestream of the full concert is still available online: