Choral Piece Revisits the Journey Through the Eyes of Native Americans

Live Performance Broadcast on WNYC Radio's Soundcheck®

Wednesday, June 16, at 2 p.m. on 93.9 FM and via webstream at www.wnyc.org

On Wednesday, June 16, in a very special edition of Soundcheck, the WNYC Young People's Radio Chorus will give a live performance, premiering excerpts from a new choral/orchestral work composed by Rob Kapilow commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark expedition. With a libretto by Darrell Kipp of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana - which includes words and phrases from Native American languages—the work revisits the historic journey in a novel way: through the eyes of the tribal nations visited by Lewis & Clark.

Soundcheck airs on WNYC 93.9 FM and via webstream at www.wnyc.org.

Rob Kapilow will join guest host Julie Burstein and Francisco Núñez, artistic director of the WNYC Young People's Radio Chorus, to discuss this unusual collaboration between a Native American librettist and a composer of European heritage. Through visits to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana and discussions with Native Americans throughout the country, Kapilow created a work recounting the Lewis & Clark expedition story from a new, multi-cultural perspective in an effort to "cross the divide" that separates mainstream America from Native America. The work, which was co-commissioned by the Carlsen Center (on behalf of the Kansas City Symphony), the Saint Louis Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic, will receive its world premiere this fall.

Following the broadcast, this edition of Soundcheck will continue to be available at the show's archives on www.wnyc.org, and teachers wishing to incorporate this subject into their curricula can request CD copies of the program by calling WNYC's Listener Services Team at 212-669-3333. In addition, study guides for this program will be available for downloading from the YPC website at www.ypc.org.

The WNYC Young People's Radio Chorus, 16 of the most gifted choristers of the award-winning Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC), is the first-ever resident chorus at any New York radio station. The June 16 program marks its fourth quarterly visit to Soundcheck. YPC is strongly committed to education through music, and in addition to its membership of 250 young people, it provides music education to an additional 250 youngsters through its Satellite Schools choral program.

Rob Kapilow, probably best known for his acclaimed "What Makes It Great?" NPR segments and full-length concert evenings and series throughout North America, is also a renowned conductor and composer with a gift for making classical music understandable to a general audience.

WNYC's Soundcheck is a pan-stylistic musical salon hosted by John Schaefer, which showcases composers and performers with ties to New York's vital and vibrant cultural scene. Each day listeners can hear conversations and updates about the latest trends in arts and ideas of New York City as well as live music performances by leading musicians and composers.

WNYC, New York Public Radio, is New York's premier public radio station, comprising WNYC 93.9 FM and WNYC AM 820. As America's most listened-to public radio stations, reaching more than one million listeners every week, WNYC FM and AM extend New York City's cultural riches to the entire country and air the best national offerings from affiliate networks National Public Radio and Public Radio International. WNYC 93.9 FM broadcasts a wide range of daily news, talk, cultural and classical music programming, while WNYC AM 820 maintains a stronger focus on breaking news and international news reporting.