The Lakota Music Project (LMP) was developed under Music Director Delta David Gier's direction to address racial tension between Native Americans and non-Natives in the region the SDSO serves. Now in its 20th year, the LMP is a side-by-side program with the SDSO and Lakota and Dakota musicians which explores the role music plays in their respective cultures, seeking to endgender understanding, trust, and healing between estranged peoples. This program traveled to Washington D.C. in October 2019 for performances at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian and the national Cathedral. A recording of the music commissioned for the LMP was released on the Innova Label.
Concerts in the tour include world premieres of works by composer Derek Bermel, in collaboration with Creekside Singers drum keeper Emmanuel Black Bear, and by composer Jeffrey Paul in collaboration with Bryan Akipa, Dakota cedar flutist, serving as cornerstones of the LMP's collaborative creation focus.
The tour programs explore shared human experiences of celebration, humor, love and youth demonstrated through music of Lakota, Dakota, and western classical traditions; and this tour introduces works by students of the SDSO's Music Composition Academy, which serves young people from tribal communities in South Dakota.
All concerts in the tour are free to attend.
Delta David Gier, conductor
Bryan Akipa, cedar flute
Chris Eagle Hawk, speaker
Ronnie Theisz, speaker
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Musicians
Doosook Kim, violin
Magdalena Modzelewska, violin
Ioana Galu, viola
Robert Erhard, cello
James DuVoll, flute
Jeffrey Paul, oboe
Irina Chang, clarinet
John Tomkins, bassoon
Daniel Kitchens, french horn
Creekside Singers
Emmanuel Black Bear
Tim Black Bear
Ari Black Bear
Hanna Gasdia
Talon Mesteth
Brent Spoonhunter
Dancers
Selena Orozco
Miya Rodriguez
Tristan Trejo
| John Stafford Smith Traditional | Star Spangled Banner Lakota Flag Song | |
| LOVE Performance by Bryan Akipa Cedar Flute | ||
| Creekside Singers | Rabbit Song | |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky South Dakota Symphony | Romeo and Juliet (excerpt) | |
| HUMOR Creekside Singers | Dance With Your Eyes Closed | |
| Richard Strauss South Dakota Symphony | Til Eulenspiegel (excerpt) | |
| CELEBRATION Creekside Singers | Intertribal Song | |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart South Dakota Symphony | Marriage of Figaro Overture | |
| FUTURE GENERATIONS Performance by Brian Akipa Cedar Flute | ||
| Music Composition Academy Drake Decker Migizii Stone Rita Harris South Dakota Symphony | Untitled Heartache Whispering Storms | |
| Creekside Singers | When the Children are Present, There are Good Times | |
| Jeffrey Paul South Dakota Symphony Bryan Akipa, Cedar Flute | Songbird and Goose | |
| Derek Bermel/Emmanuel Black Bear South Dakota Symphony Creekside Singers | Lakota Refrains |
The Lakota Music Project Shared Vision Tour is supported by
Avera and Dacotah Bank
Led by Keeper of the Drum, Emmanuel Black Bear, the Creekside Singers are a Lakota Drumming Group from the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Creekside Singers perform at Pow-Wows throughout the Midwestern United States.
In 2013, Emmanuel Black Bear won the Native American Music Award for "Best Pow-Wow Recording".
Bryan Akipa, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, an Army veteran, elementary teacher, and visual and performing artist, is an award-winning traditional Native American flute player. In 2016, Bryan was named a NEA National Heritage Fellow. In 2017, Bryan was the recipient of the Living Indian Treasure Award at the Governor's Arts Awards. His CDs have been nominated for several Nammies (Native American Music Awards).
He was featured player on My Relatives Say by Mary Louis Defender which won the 2000 NAMA for Best Spoken Word recording. In addition to being a premier Native American flute player, Bryan is internationally known for his craftsmanship of traditional flutes. When one hears the depth and age in the sound of his instrument, the importance of this tradition becomes quite apparent.
He is also a champion traditional dancer who tours with the Lakota Sioux Dance Theatre. His performances and artwork informs others about his history and heritage.
Crazy Horse Memorial
Monday, October 13, 2025
10:30am-11:30am
1:00pm-2:30pm
Visitor Center
12151 Avenue of the Chiefs
Crazy Horse, SD
Lakota Tech High School
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
5:00pm-6:30pm
Gymnasium
14 New Wolf Cr School Road
Pine Ridge, SD
Chamberlain High School
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
1:30pm-2:30pm *Students Only"
5:30pm-6:30pm
Theatre
1000 Sorensen Drive
Chamberlain, SD
Sinte Gleska University
Thursday, October 16, 2025
5:00pm-6:30pm
Wakinyan Wanbli Multi-Purpose facility
Antelope Lake Campus
101 Antelope Lake Circle
Mission, SD
Wagner Community School
Friday, October 17, 2025
2:00pm-3:00pm *Students only*
5:00pm-6:30pm
Theatre
101 Walnut Avenue
Wagner, SD
LSS Multi-Cultural Center
Saturday, October 18, 2025
7:00pm-8:30pm
515 N Main Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD