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Dawn Avery

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Dawn Avery (Mohawk name Ieriho:kwats) is a composer, cellist, vocalist, educator, GRAMMY and NAMA nominated performer. Avery has worked with musical luminaries Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, John Cale, John Cage, R. Carlos Nakai and Joanne Shenandoah. She's toured around the world playing Delta Blues with the Soldier String Quartet, Persian Funk with Sussan Deyhim, and opera with the New York City Opera Company. Her own music spans from orchestral to downtempo.

Avery's music can be heard on several award-winning films, including: “Basquiat”, the Smithsonian’s “Always Becoming” by Nora Naranjo-Morse, several Rich/Heape Films and "Tadpole" featuring John Ritter and Susan Sarandon. Her most recent project and recording 50 Shades of Red features music, dance, film, and ritual. Tara Gatewood of “Native America Calling” said this downtempo work is a new genre in Native American music.

Committed to indigenous language and cultural preservation as a musician, educator and participant of Longhouse ceremonies, she leads workshops and produces projects as part of the Native Composer’s Project. Avery's Mohawk name is Ieriho:kwats and she wears the turtle clan. Our Fire: Contemporary Native American Song won several nominations in the Indian Summer Awards, New Mexico Music Awards, and Native American Music Awards.

Avery's exploration of sacred music led her to study the relationship between music and spirituality. She has led meditation groups and spiritual music performances at the Esalen Institute, the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Milan Sacred Music Festival, the Open Center in NYC, and Musicales Visuales in Mexico City. As a leader of meditation and creativity workshops, she has worked with healers such as the Dalai Lama, Rick Jarow, Ron Young, and Hilda Charleton. Rapidly Approaching Ecstasy: Music for Movement and Meditation features world grooves on the Hindu chakras along with a guided visualization track. Alchemy: Music for Meditation features tracks with various world music artists in duets with Avery on cello and voice.

With all of her commercial success as an individual artist, she has also collaborated on famous pieces, even receiving a Grammy nomination for her works as a vocalist and cellist on Grover Washington's album Breath of Heaven, released in 1997. It was released as a Christmas collaboration of many artists, with the main focal point on Washington's soprano saxophone. The album also featured Billy Childs, a renown jazz pianist that has multiple pieces charting #1 on the jazz album billboards.

In addition to touring her most recent downtempo project 50 Shades of Red, Avery tours with the North American Indian Cello Project, in which she premieres contemporary classical works by Native composers. She has collected awards for her classical works from Duke University, NYU, Meet the Composer, among others. She recently completed her doctoral degree in ethnomusicology on Native Classical composition and Indigenous theory. Nurturing future generations, Avery is a professor at Montgomery College. She was awarded the 2012 United States Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Works

Avery’s works are diverse as she explores various different genres. Her music can be heard on multiple award-winning films. She has collected awards for her classical works from Duke University, NYU, Meet the Composer, among others.

50 Shades of Red

This album was first showcased to the public on October 18, 2014 for the first time at the Montgomery College as part of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus as part of the college’s Performing Arts Showcase Series. The showcase was an hour long show, where Avery also incorporated a traditional dance to Down Tempo Native American music.[1] The theme throughout the album is love. Just as the name of the album suggests, it explores the many kinds or "shades" of love from sensual love to spiritual love. Some of her popular songs from this album are Strawberry Field Forever, My Heart Is Strong, and My Life with You.[2]

Our Fire

Our Fire consists of native contemporary songs, choral chants, jazz, and cello. Avery sings in English and Mohawk as well as playing the cello. Our Fire was nominated for Best Songwriting of the Year by the Native American Music Awards (NAMA). Grammy winner Larry Mitchell played the guitar and produced her album.[3]

Alchemy

This album is a meditation album that was constructed to instill inner peace and produce renewed energy.[4]

True

True consists of music around the world in a setting with influences from Africa, Native America, Brazil, Mexico, Greece, and other native places. In this piece Avery sings in many languages. This piece reflects her different styles from around the world. This also includes voice, percussion, cello, and guitar.

See also

Through Avery`s life she has been influenced immensely by composer who range across multiple genres. In an interview with Suzanne Gilchrest of "8 Strings and a Whistle", Avery proclaimed that she has been influenced by classical music, world music, rock, and jazz; in addition, she specifically named a few musicians from these genres. Of which some these people include: Ludwig van Beethoven, Coltrane, Pink Floyd, Johnny Whitehorse, Sting and many others.[5]

References

  1. ^ "My Career Choice: Dawn Avery – 50 Shades Of Red". Woman Around Town. 2014-10-10.
  2. ^ "Dawn Avery". Dawn Avery. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  3. ^ "Dawn Avery". Dawn Avery. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  4. ^ "Dawn Avery". Dawn Avery. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  5. ^ "Eight Strings & a Whistle - Dawn Avery". eightstringsandawhistle.com.

Selected Recordings

Learn more about Dawn Avery by listening to her works. The following are links to available music by Avery.

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