“Shell Shaker” to premiere at Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College presents the East Coast premiere of the opera “Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker),” the first opera composed by a Chickasaw in their native language.
On Feb. 28, 2025, at 7:30 pm, Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate’s new opera “Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker),” conducted by Tianhui Ng, professor of music, will have its East Coast premiere at Mount Holyoke College. The event features the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra, the Mount Holyoke Glee Club and the Mount Holyoke Symphony Chorus in Abbey Memorial Chapel. Costumes have been designed by award-winning Chickasaw weaver, fiber expert and textile artist Margaret Roach Wheeler.
Tate’s two-act opera “Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker)” depicts the Chickasaw origin story of the tribe’s sacred turtle shell shakers, used in traditional stomp dancing and social songs. It tells the story of Loksi’ (Turtle), a Chickasaw girl who is teased for being too slow to keep up with the other children. After seeking wisdom from her grandmother, her family and the tribe’s trusted River Spirit, the young girl learns she must leave home to find her purpose. She sets out on a long woodland journey, returning a cultural hero, enriched by the divine gift of the turtle shell shakers and knowledge of the Chickasaw people’s new homelands.
The first opera composed entirely in an American Indian language, “Shell Shaker” had its world premiere with Canterbury Voices and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, conducted by Tianhui Ng, at Oklahoma City’s Civic Center Music Hall in October 2024.
Tate says, “I am thrilled for my people to hear their language sung on the concert stage, and I hope they feel proud when the world witnesses our rich legacy expressed in a dramatic and theatrical performance.”
Dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition, Tate is a classical composer and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma. The Washington Post said “Tate is rare as an American Indian composer of classical music. Rarer still is his ability to effectively infuse classical music with American Indian nationalism.” He is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee.
His commissioned works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Colorado Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Canterbury Voices, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. His music was also featured in the HBO series “Westworld.”
Tate is a three-time commissioned recipient from the American Composers Forum, a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program recipient, a Cleveland Institute of Music Alumni Achievement Award recipient, a governor-appointed Creativity Ambassador for the State of Oklahoma and an Emmy Award winner for his work on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority documentary “The Science of Composing.”
Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors. For cast listings, more information or to buy tickets, please visit the Mount Holyoke College events calendar.
