Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is a classical composer
and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. He is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee and a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from The Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2021, he was appointed a Cultural Ambassador for the U. S. Department of State.
Among many recent premieres, Tate’s highlights include commissions from the New York Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Cantori NY and Turtle Island Quartet. This season, Dover String Quartet tours Tate’s new quartet, Woodland Songs, Oklahoma’s Canterbury Voices premieres Tate’s first opera, Loksi' Shaali' (Shell Shaker), PostClassical Ensemble presents an all-American-Indian program curated by Tate in Washington D.C., and his popular work Chokfi’ has been programmed by the Austin, Eureka, and Ft. Collins symphonies. Tate is currently at work on a new violin concerto for acclaimed violinist Irina Muresanu, as well as new works for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.
“His ear for colors produced vivid tonal images… the whole work is extraordinarily evocative…”
Classical New Jersey
Tate is a three-time commissioned recipient from the American Composers Forum, a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program recipient, a Cleveland Institute of Music Alumni Achievement Award recipient, a governor-appointed Creativity Ambassador for the State of Oklahoma and an Emmy Award-winner for his work on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority documentary The Science of Composing. His music was also featured in the HBO series Westworld.
Tate earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Northwestern University and his Master of Music in Piano Performance and Composition from The Cleveland Institute of Music. His middle name, Impichchaachaaha', means “their high corncrib” and is his inherited traditional Chickasaw house name.
