Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate

From Wind Repertory Project
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate

Biography

Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate (b. 25 1968, Norman, Okla) is a Native America (Chickasaw) classical composer and pianist.

Tate earned his Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Northwestern University, where he studied with Dr. Donald Isaak, and his Master of Music degree in piano performance and composition from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Elizabeth Pastor and Dr. Donald Erb.

He has performed as First Keyboard on the Broadway national tours of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, and been a guest composer/pianist and accompanist for the Colorado Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and numerous ballet and dance companies.

He has had several commissioned works, which have been performed by major orchestras in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, Detroit, and Minneapolis, among others. When the San Francisco Symphony Chorus performed and recorded his work Iholba' in 2008, it was the first time the chorus had sung any work in Chickasaw or any American Indian language. Tate's compositions are inspired by North American Indian history, culture and ethos. In addition to his work based upon his Chickasaw culture, Tate has worked with the music and language of multiple tribes, such as: Choctaw, Navajo, Cherokee, Ojibway, Creek, Pechanga, Comanche, Lakota, Hopi, Tlingit, Lenape, Tongva, Shawnee, Caddo, Ute, Aleut, Shoshone, Cree, Paiute, and Salish/Kootenai.

Tate is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee, a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from The Cleveland Institute of Music and was appointed 2021 Cultural Ambassador for the U. S. Department of State. He is founder and artistic director of the Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival. He was Co-Founder and Composition Instructor for the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy.

Tate’s middle name, Impichchaachaaha', means “his high corncrib” and is his inherited traditional Chickasaw house name. A corncrib is a small hut used for the storage of corn and other vegetables. In traditional Chickasaw culture, the corncrib was built high off the ground on stilts to keep its contents safe from foraging animals.


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