Raven Chacon, American Academy composition fellow, to look at role of sound in 2016 protests at Standing Rock

The earliest memory Raven Chacon recalls of music-making
is hearing his grandfather sing Navajo songs while working,
watching television, or reading. Later as Chacon began taking
piano lessons and learning about music notation, he also began
experimenting with making sounds in other ways, with cassette
tapes or banging on metal.


Now Chacon, who is known for his chamber music compositions,
experimental noise performances, and installation art pieces,
will live in Germany as a spring 2018 composition fellow at the
American Academy in Berlin. While there, he plans to work on
commissioned pieces for ensembles in the U.S. as well as write
about experiences he had with sound at the 2016 oil pipeline
protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota.


The compositions in this piece include “Black Sabbatical” on the
album Endlings by Chacon and John Dieterich as well as “The
Journey of the Horizontal People,” composed by Raven Chacon and
commissioned/performed by San Francisco’s Kronos
Quartet. Produced by Sylvia Cunningham