2026 Season
The EcoVoice Project
Season 2026
Another year with The EcoVoice Project means another year brimming with opportunities to stand up and speak out, to come together as artists, activists, and people. We invite you to join us for our 2026 season, inspire each other and our communities to engage in meaningful climate action.
Jerod Impichchaachaaaha' Tate,
Ámmo'naka (In a Beginning)
Wednesday, April 22nd | 7:30 PM
Jo Ann Rooney Hall | Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts
Ámmo'naka̱ (In a Beginning) is a new work composed for the Loyola Choirs and The EcoVoice Project by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate. With new poetry entirely conceived in the Chickasaw language by Lokosh Hinson, Ámmo'naka̱ combines Western technique and Chickasaw folk music to explore American Indian ecology and creation. Additional works by Andrew Balfour, Brent Michael Davids, and Sherryl Sewepagaham will round out the program.
This commission is supported by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.
In the months leading up to the premiere, Loyola will offer additional opportunities to engage with related topics. Keep reading to learn more.
Lecture with Brandi Berry Benson,
American Indian Music Traditions
Chickasaw Nation
Monday, February 16 | 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Skowronski Music Hall | Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts
What is Native American music? It is a question that arguably many scholars, ethnomusicologists, and anthropologists still struggle to answer today. In this lecture, Brandi Berry Benson, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, performing musician, composer, and scholar, shares her insights and research of Native American music traditions from a Native perspective, putting forward the notion that this may be the wrong question to ask altogether.
Sponsored by the LUC Department of Fine and Performing Arts.
Lecture with Lokosh, Anompa’ Chokma’si’:
Poetry in Chickasaw Language
Chickasaw Nation
The Chickasaw people began to engage in language revitalization in the 1970s. Today, the modern Chickasaw language revitalization movement is active and dynamic, as new speakers are created and new forms of life for the language emerge. One of these forms is Chickasaw poetry. Lokosh will discuss his creative process and poetics in the greater context of Chickasaw language revitalization in 2026.
Sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and Department of English.
This event is free! RSVP encouraged.
Tuesday, April 21 | 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Skowronski Music Hall | Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts
Panel Discussion,
The Creation of Ámmo'naka
Chickasaw Nation
Wednesday, April 22 | 6:00-7:00 PM
Palm Court | Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts
Join composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, librettist Lokosh, American Indian music scholar Brandi Berry Benson, and conductor Kirsten Hedegaard as they discuss the collaborative process in the creation of Ámmo'naka.
This event is free! RSVP encouraged.