Violinist Ashtin Johnson Doctor of Musical Arts Lecture Recital features Anjelica Lindsey at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
DMA Candidate Ashtin Johnson (Cherokee Nation)
Violinist Ashtin Johnson (Cherokee Nation) presented a Doctor of Musical Arts lecture recital on April 25, 2026 at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. The performance took place on campus as part of Johnson’s doctoral research and featured pianist Meng Yuan.
Titled “Native American Works for the Violin: A Cultural Analysis,” the recital included the following program:
Program
Abitahánta' The Hunter Who Was Not So Great for Solo Violin and Narrator
Special Guest Narrator: Seth Johnson
Jerod Tate
Soliloquy for Piano and Violin
Anjelica Lindsey
Onekha’shòn:a, Ya’kòn:kwe (The Waters, The Women)
Dawn Avery
Oshta (Four) for Solo Violin
Jerod Tate
The lecture recital was presented through the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati as part of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree program.
Find the full video below featuring Johnson’s lecture with composer and composition introductions at the front of the video.
Program
Abitahánta' The Hunter Who Was Not So Great 22:08
for Solo Violin and Narrator
Special Guest Narrator: Seth Johnson
Composed by: Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
Soliloquy for Piano and Violin 30:24
Composed by: Anjelica Lindsey
Onekha’shòn:a, Ya’kòn:kwe (The Waters, The Women)
Mvt 1 35:11 Mvt 2 38:12 Mvt 3 41:45
Composed by: Dawn Ierihò:kwats Avery
Oshta (Four) 45:42
Composed by: Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
Opening Lecture Footage Script, Dr. Ashtin Johnson:
Today’s lecture will be a culturally focused analysis of four modern pieces written for the violin by Native American composers.
We will examine four pillars of Native life present in these pieces. Those of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Mohawk Nations.
Those four pillars are storytelling, spiritual world, nature & matriarchy, and honoring our ancestors who perished on the Trail of Tears
Jerod Tate is a Chickasaw composer, I play two of his pieces today.
He is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee, and also a cultural ambassador for the Chickasaw Nation as named by the U.S. Department of State, his work has been performed by many of this countries top orchestras.
Dawn Avery is of Mohawk descent. Dr. Dawn Avery holds a PhD in ethnomusicology with the primary research focus being Native American Classical Contemporary Composition, and the application of indigenous research techniques. As a cellist and performer she has been nominated for Grammy, and collected several awards, most notably from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
And lastly but not least, Anjelica Lindsey is a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation. I first came across her work as a friend of mine is a member of the Oklahoma Women Quartet, who premiered a piece of Anjelica’s. In addition to both of us being Citizens of the Cherokee Nation, we are both violinists. I do want to express the rarity in which classical violin is pursued in northeastern Oklahoma. So the fact that I found one other Cherokee Citizen who is involved in the classical world is remarkable. As an artist and composer, Lindsey’s work is concerned with language revitalization, cultural reclamation, and the sonic expression of identity through immersive and emotionally resonant composition.
As I mentioned, I am a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation. As such the cultural traditions of the Cherokee will be my guide and the basis on which I build my analysis throughout the lecture.
