Musician, composer, teacher and illustrator Gary Gackstatter has always been fond of the Southwest as well as a fan of musician R. Carlos Nakai. So when Gackstatter was approaching a deadline for a sabbatical proposal for his job as symphonic band and orchestra conductor at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, he came up with the idea to write a symphony about Chaco Canyon.
Inspired from family vacations to the Southwest, as well as vivid dreams about walking around the canyon’s ruins, it made perfect sense to have flutist Nakai as part of the score. Nakai was always Gackstatter’s “go-to artist” when he draws – his presence on this project was not just something Gackstatter wanted because he’s a fan; it was a necessary component for the music.
Gackstatter and Nakai will perform “Symphony Chaco: A Journey of the Spirit” on March 15 at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
“I knew I had to start with a Native American flute sound. Most ‘classical’ compositions that include Native American flute merely include sections where the flautist improvises over chords; I wanted something different, more integrated,” Gackstatter said via email. “More than that, I wanted the music to be from a Native American perspective.”
If you go
WHAT: “Symphony Chaco: A Journey of the Spirit,” featuring R. Carlos Nakai.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. March 15.
WHERE: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.
TICKETS: $20/$40.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
This piece of music was born when Gackstatter nervously called Nakai to see if he’d be interested in helping with the project, which he was. They then met in southern Arizona to begin writing the music, which included using a dozen traditional, Native American flutes. Gackstatter also spent a load of time at Chaco Canyon, camping in the area and then traveling north to use a practice room in the Music Building at FLC to write the melodies.
The result is a piece of music that contains 10 different movements. The show itself is a full multimedia performance, combining photos with symphonic music that features Nakai on flutes, Christina Martos on vocals, an Deborah Taffa, author of the spoken-word pieces and narrator for the show. The musicians and conductor Gackstatter are billed simply as “Symphony Tribe,” 60-some players from Gackstatters and Nakai’s musical community.
“I wrote this symphony with the help of Nakai, making sure that the music and lyrics were more ‘of’ Chaco Canyon rather than just ‘about’ Chaco Canyon,” Gackstatter said. “From the first movement, ‘Prayer to the Sacred Directions,’ to the last ‘Migration,’ it honors those who came before us and marvels at what was achieved at Chaco Canyon.”
This all fits into Nakai’s world of education, something that goes hand in hand with his music. Part of that education is using handmade flutes similar to a flute made in Native American cultures centuries ago.
“I work primarily with these arbitrarily keyed instruments and work with many flute makers to get them as close to A4440 or A435 (flute tunings), so that I can work with musicians here and there in the world, as well as working in the environment of the American Indian community at large,” Nakai said.
None of this would have happened were it not for Gackstatter’s admiration and love of the music of Nakai; as much as this piece is of Chaco Canyon, its also a big nod to Nakai.
“From the beginning, I wanted Nakai’s sound woven into the symphony, so I would have to have a flute player who could read music as well as improvise and chant. I had to learn the limitations of a Native American flute to make sure what I was composing was possible. Then I had to make sure that the music and lyrics were in line with Pueblo beliefs,” Gackstatter said. “R. Carlos was invaluable in this respect.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
