Arts & Culture

Opera tour shares Indigenous music, culture with Montana students

Yellowstone Public Radio | By Olivia Weitz

Published April 13, 2023 at 5:20 PM MDT

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Kate Morton speaks to a group of high schoolers in the gymnasium at Lame Deer High School. “We had three goals today: one, to introduce you to a little bit about our tribes, culture and history. Two, to introduce you to classical music, the classical music world. And three, hopefully inspire you to tell stories in your own way, whether that’s about your own ancestors or perhaps get into classical music," she said. "Either way I think it’s really important that stories be told."

Olivia Weitz / Yellowstone Public Radio

Student Shandin Kayline and composer J Cruise Berry sit next to each other in a classroom

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After the performance, artist and musician Shandin Kayline interviewed composer and pianist J Cruise Berry in the visual arts room at Lame Deer High School. They discussed the lifestyle of a composer, Native American representation in the arts and memories they both had growing up around sheep.

Olivia Weitz / Yellowstone Public Radio

Mark Billy plays the flute for students in the gymnasium at Lame Deer High School as Kate Morton watches behind him

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Mark Billy taught the students some Choctaw words so they could sing the chorus of a traditional hymn. He also played a traditional native flute piece with a flute carved out of cedar. Billy shared with the students that he and Kate Morton were recently cast in lead roles for the first-ever opera that will be performed entirely in a Native American language. Shell Shaker, a Chickasaw opera, is being written by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate.

Olivia Weitz / Yellowstone Public Radio

Intermountain Opera Bozeman is bringing Indigenous music and culture to about a dozen schools around Montana as part of its first ever school tour.

As part of the Wheels of Harmony tour three Indigenous artists share about their heritage with students, sing opera songs, and play traditional music. Artists include Cherokee mezzo-soprano Kate Morton, Choctaw baritone and native flute player Mark Billy, and Chickasaw composer and pianist J Cruise Berry. The two-week school tour wraps up this week with a performance in Drummond.

At a recent performance at Lame Deer High School on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana, Berry and student Shandin Kaline connected over a piano piece composed by a Navajo artist.