Images: Courtesy of the artist.
Images: Courtesy of the artist.
Brent Michael Davids: Home in Lenapehoking
Brent Michael Davids: Home in Lenapehoking
In conjunction with MAM’s immersive installation From My Home to Yours, join esteemed concert and film composer Brent Michael Davids for an evening of live chamber music, film, and conversation about being in his homelands: Lenapehoking (Lenape territory).
A member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians and a co-director of Manhattan’s Lenape Center, Davids is a descendant of local peoples who were forced west from their lands and waters. The highlight of the evening will be Davids’ The Last of James Fenimore Cooper—a humorous satire that turns the table on the most famous work of nineteenth-century Romantic fiction. Guided by Davids' narration, the piece will be performed by a string quintet comprised of the Kodak Quartet (New York City) and Ryan Chamberlain (Montclair State University) on bass.
Throughout the evening, in conversation with MAM Curator of Native American Art Laura J. Allen, Davids will weave his perspectives as a Mohican/Munsee-Lenape person and one of the most original composers in North America today.
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Performance begins at 5:30 p.m.
This event is free. Register in advance to reserve your seat, or seating as available at the door.
This performance for From My Home to Yours at MAM (May 7, 2022–January 1, 2023) is curated by Betsy Theobald Richards (Cherokee Nation).
This event is part of Indigenous Peoples’ Weekend at MAM, October 7-10. Join us as well for:
- October 8 | 3 – 5 p.m.: Photowalk with Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock), featuring new acquisitions of his photography
October 9 | 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Rehearsal of The Last of James Fenimore Cooper open to the public, free with Museum admissionThe open rehearsal scheduled for October 9 has been canceled.
- October 9 | 1 – 4 p.m.: Family-friendly Sunday Studio with Jeremy Dennis: Creation Story Collages
- All weekend: What does home mean to you? Share your views in our café space.
These events are made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Brent Michael Davids (Mohican/Munsee-Lenape) is an internationally celebrated composer, and a music warrior for Native equity and parity, especially in concert music where there is little Indigenous influence. Davids is co-director of the Lenape Center in Manhattan and is enrolled in the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. Davids places Native voices front and center. He co-founded the renowned Native American Composer Apprentice Project (NACAP) with the Grand Canyon Music Festival, championing Indigenous youth to compose their own music. He uses Indigenous instruments, including handmade quartz flutes, and pens performable notations that are themselves visual works of art. His composer career spans nearly five decades, with myriad awards and commissions. In 2022, the Venice Biennale Musica featured the choral works of Davids, premiering a newly commissioned work. In 2015, the prestigious Indian Summer Festival awarded Davids its “Lifetime Achievement Award.” Davids holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Composition from Northern Illinois University and Arizona State University respectively, trained at Redford’s Sundance Institute, and apprenticed with film composer Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love). He has garnered the Distinguished Alumni Awards from both of the universities he attended.

TICKETS AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE AND AT THE DOOR.