KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: An Interview with Louis Ballard, September 1983
Analog Audio
Event Type
InterviewsOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
MC.1983.09.19.c1Program Series
Morning ConcertProgram Length
33 minDates
1983-09-19 | broadcast| 1983-09-13 | created
Description
In an telephone interview recorded in September of 1983, host Russ Jennings talks with Louis Ballard, a Native American composer of Cherokee-Quapaw descent, whose work takes a great deal of its inspiration from the music and culture of his heritage. In this interview. he talks of the difficulties and rewards of being one of the first Native American composers of Western styled music. He describes how, in childhood he was exposed to both the ritual music of the traditional Indian powwows and the classical European music he learned as a piano student, Then later, as he became aware of the works of Dvořák and Bartok, he became interested in uniting Western European and Native American elements into a music that was uniquely his own. For Ballard, it was not enough to simply notate traditional folk melodies, or write for traditional instruments, but rather he sought to immerse himself in a folk tradition and then translate that spirit into a more classical format and ensemble. In this interview he describes that process while discussing in detail, several of his works (which unfortunately are not heard here). Mr. Ballard died on Feb. 9, 2007 at the age of 75.Genres
20th century classicalChamber music
Subjects
20th century classicalChamber music
Native Americans
Related places
Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
Jennings, RussBallard, Louis W.