Committed to indigenous language and cultural preservation as a musician, educator and participant of Longhouse ceremonies, she leads workshops and produces projects as part of the Native Composer’s Project. Avery's Mohawk name is Ieriho:kwats and she wears the turtle clan. Our Fire: Contemporary Native American Song won several nominations in the Indian Summer Awards, New Mexico Music Awards, and Native American Music Awards. Avery's exploration of sacred music led her to study the relationship between music and spirituality. She has led meditation groups and spiritual music performances at the Esalen Institute, the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Milan Sacred Music Festival, the Open Center in NYC, and Musicales Visuales in Mexico City. As a leader of meditation and creativity workshops, she has worked with healers such as the Dalai Lama, Rick Jarow, Ron Young, and Hilda Charleton. Rapidly Approaching Ecstasy: Music for Movement and Meditation features world grooves on the Hindu chakras along with a guided visualization track. Alchemy: Music for Meditation features tracks with various world music artists in duets with Avery on cello and voice. With all of her commercial success as an individual artist, she has also collaborated on famous pieces, even receiving a Grammy nomination for her works as a vocalist and cellist on Grover Washington's album Breath of Heaven, released in 1997. It was released as a Christmas collaboration of many artists, with the main focal point on Washington's soprano saxophone. The album also featured Billy Childs, a renowned jazz pianist that has multiple pieces charting #1 on the jazz album billboards. In addition to touring her most recent downtempo project 50 Shades of Red, Avery tours with the North American Indian Cello Project, in which she premieres contemporary classical works by Native composers. She has collected awards for her classical works from Duke University, NYU, Meet the Composer, among others. She recently completed her doctoral degree in ethnomusicology on Native Classical composition and Indigenous theory. Nurturing future generations, Avery is a professor at Montgomery College. She was awarded the 2012 United States Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Works
Avery’s works are diverse as she explores various different genres. Her music can be heard on multiple award-winning films. She has collected awards for her classical works from Duke University, NYU, Meet the Composer, among others.
''50 Shades of Red''
This album was first showcased to the public on October 18, 2014 for the first time at the Montgomery College as part of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus as part of the college’s Performing Arts Showcase Series. The showcase was an hour long show, where Avery also incorporated a traditional dance to Down Tempo Native American music. The theme throughout the album is love. Just as the name of the album suggests, it explores the many kinds or "shades" of love from sensual love to spiritual love. Some of her popular songs from this album are Strawberry Field Forever, My Heart Is Strong, and My Life with You.
''Our Fire''
Our Fire consists of native contemporary songs, choral chants, jazz, and cello. Avery sings in English and Mohawk as well as playing the cello. Our Fire was nominated for Best Songwriting of the Year by the Native American Music Awards. Grammy winner Larry Mitchell played the guitar and produced her album.
''Alchemy''
This album is a meditation album that was constructed to instill inner peace and produce renewed energy.
''True''
True consists of music around the world in a setting with influences from Africa, Native America, Brazil, Mexico, Greece, and other native places. In this piece Avery sings in many languages. This piece reflects her different styles from around the world. This also includes voice, percussion, cello, and guitar.
Selected Recordings
Learn more about Dawn Avery by listening to her works. The following are links to available music by Avery.
