August 26, 2019 | UHCL Staff
Honoring the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo moon landing, the Apollo Chamber Players will offer a special performance titled “MoonStrike” at University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Bayou Theater Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. The concert features Emmy-winning Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Chickasaw astronaut Cmdr. John Herrington, the first member of a Native American tribe to fly in space, joining as narrator and special guest.
“MoonStrike is a new commission for string quartet inspired by Native American moon legends and astrology that perfectly connects with our mission to perform music reflecting the culture of indigenous people of America,” said Matthew Detrick, executive and artistic director of the Apollo Chamber Players. “It’s fascinating how connected Native American culture is to astrology, the moon, and the natural elements of the world. It’s a perfect connection to make.”
Detrick said the concert was rooted in the memory of his childhood obsession with becoming an astronaut. “Since I was 8 years old, I have been interested in anyone who worked at NASA and I wanted to be the first person to play the violin in space,” he said. “It’s the reason I named our group Apollo Chamber Players. I had a teacher who said I could be anything I dreamed. Obviously, I didn’t become an astronaut, but I feel that this MoonStrike concert is the closest I can get to my dream.”
The music, continued Detrick, was created by one of the very few active Native American composers in the U.S. “I heard Jerod Tate’s music and contacted him,” he said. “There’s such a wonderful connection between the moon landing and Native American moon legends. We came up with the idea of having a string quartet play and having a narrator, John Herrington, who’s the first Native American in space. It worked out really well to get him to be part of this special program.”
Herrington’s role is to narrate Native American moon legends and chosen stories from different Native American tribes set to music. “Commissioning new music is very important to the Apollo Chamber Players,” Detrick said. “In 2014, we launched a project called ‘20 x 2020’ with the aim of commissioning 20 new multicultural compositions by 2020. We’ve had commissions from all over the world, and MoonStrike is the 18th work from that project.”
MoonStrike is the name of both the composition and the concert for a reason, Detrick said. “Timpanist Douglas Cardwell also joins for the Texas premiere of Tate’s ‘Thunder Song,’ which is a musical reflection of the lightning strike that hit Apollo 12’s Saturn V rocket during liftoff,” he said. “His speech is based on elements of Chickasaw culture, but for this program we are dedicating it to the lightning strike.”
He added that the backdrop for the performance would be a fiber art weaving of the famous ‘Earthrise’ photograph captured by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Enders. “The display of that in the back is part of the whole effect, connecting visual art with music,” he said. “Through the richness of Native American heritage and Jerod’s Chickasaw ancestry, we are honored to present a concert inspired by what Houston is arguably most famous for: NASA and the Apollo space program.”
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