Brandi Benson Presents New Music Inspired By Her Chickasaw Ancestors

Evanston, Ill. — It’s not often that you hear concert music that reflects the heritage of the Chickasaw Nation, but that’s exactly what audiences will be able to experience when the Bach & Beethoven Experience presents a concert entitled “The Story of Pa I Sha” at Northwestern University’s Regenstein Hall in Evanston on May 15 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is open to the public and tickets are free.

The concert is the brainchild of Brandi Berry Benson, a Chicago-based violinist, fiddler, and artistic director of the Bach & Beethoven Experience, who also happens to be a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

Growing up, Benson often looked at the portrait of her Chickasaw great-great-great-great grandmother, Pa I Sha, which hung in her living room. Every time she gazed at it, Benson said she saw a woman of immense strength who carried the Chickasaw reputation of “unconquered and unconquerable."

It was an image that stayed with Benson as she pursued a career in classical music. And although she loves performing a wide range of musical styles from Renaissance to Baroque to bluegrass and even the occasional gypsy jazz gig, Benson longed to play something that resonated with her own Chickasaw heritage.

So a few years ago, Benson decided to compose a new work that melded these two worlds. “I really wanted to find a way to have both sides of my life connect with each other, and I knew that writing a piece that honored my ancestors would really bring everything together for me,” she said.

The result was a piece entitled, “The Story of Pa I Sha” — a musical narrative designed for a Choctaw vocalist/narrator, a Native American flute, traverso (which is a type of Baroque flute), violin, viola, cello and Indigenous percussion that highlights four major stories in Benson’s Chickasaw heritage.
The first story is about Pa I Sha herself, who was full-blood Chickasaw and walked the Trail of Tears (called “The Removal” by the Chickasaw tribe) in 1837 from her home in Mississippi to her new nation in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) as a result of the Indian Removal Act. She married her husband, another full-blood Chickasaw, who also walked the trail.

The second story is about Pa I Sha’s daughter, Mary, who married an Englishman who fought in the Civil War. Because interracial marriages with the tribe were taboo at the time, they were forced to live in a railroad tent outside of town with their nine children, many of whom dropped their indigenous identity to avoid discrimination.

The third story is about how Mary’s daughter, Rosa, gave up her indigenous identity once Oklahoma became a state for fear of restricted citizenship. Pa I Sha’s great grandson and Rosa’s son, Earnest, is the last of Brandi’s relatives on the Dawes Rolls from Indian Territory. He was born in Indian territory before Oklahoma became a state in 1906.

The fourth story is about how Earnest met his wife, Elvera, who traveled with her family from Litchfield, IL, to the Texas Panhandle. Her family was welcomed into the community as they arrived just before the holidays, and through a series of connections Elvera and Earnest met and fell in love. The couple made it their lifelong mission to find out all they could about Earnest’s Chickasaw family lineage.

The piece was first presented in partnership with the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum in Evanston, the Evanston Arts Council, and Evanston Township High School District 202 in November 2023 as part of Native American Heritage Month. This performance will be presented in partnership with and is co-sponsored by Northwestern University’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR).

Using melodies from the Chickasaw Nation, the piece intertwines music and songs with narration that includes some Choctaw language, and features Rachael Youngman as the Choctaw narrator and vocalist. The music will be performed by Benson on violin, Leighann Daihl Ragusa on Native American flute and traverso, Kiyoe Matsuura on viola, Erica Rubis on cello, and Michaela Marchi, who is affiliated with the Isleta Pueblo tribe, on indigenous percussion.

“The Story of Pa I Sha” is a perfect fit for The Bach & Beethoven Experience’s repertoire, because, as a rule, BBE is a group that likes to change the rules about what a classical music ensemble can be.

“What I love about folk and indigenous music is that they are part of daily life functions, and there is no separator between performer and audience,” Benson said. “We at the BBE really want to make classical music like that… to be more people-centric and fun, and honor the stories of those who have gone before us. We play everything from classical music to folk music, to original music, and now indigenous music. We try to build a personal connection between our audience by using stories as well, so this kind of show that defies expectations is what we’re all about.”

The Bach & Beethoven Experience Presents “The Story of Pa I Sha”

When: May 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Description: The Bach & Beethoven Experience presents the musical narrative, The Story of Pa I Sha, which highlights four major stories of composer Brandi Berry Benson’s Chickasaw ancestors using her original settings of hymns, social dances, and traditional songs from the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations interwoven with English and Choctaw narration. This performance features Rachael Youngman (Choctaw vocalist/narrator), Leighann Daihl Ragusa (Native American flute and traverso), Brandi Berry Benson (violin), Kiyoe Matsuura (viola), Erica Rubis (cello), and Michaela Marchi (Indigenous percussion). This original work will both surprise and enlighten.
Tickets: Free
Where: Regenstein Hall, 60 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston, IL 60208
Info: 847-491-3741

About The Bach & Beethoven Experience
Founded in 2010, the Bach & Beethoven Experience brings artists together to collaborate and transform the classical concert experience from a standard passive listening presentation to an interactive experience through classical, folk, indigenous, and new music, using period instruments. Because we feel music is for everyone, our mission is to build community by creating an atmosphere and experience that fosters and encourages a personal connection between the musicians and audiences before, after, and during the performances.

Hailed as “thrilling... charming… performed with such grace… joy and sincerity that a watcher and listener had to be won over" (Bloomington Herald Times), the BBE has performed across the U.S. including at Baroque on Beaver Island Festival, Early Music Academy in Ann Arbor, the Goodman Theater, The Green Mill, Martyrs’, Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, the Dame Myra Hess series, the Bloomington, Boston, Indianapolis Early Music Festival series, in residency at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and more. The Bach & Beethoven Experience performs about four times a year and has released several albums including A Gaelic Summer, An Appalachian Summer, Carols, and Chicago Stories the Album.

About Brandi Berry Benson
Violinist/Fiddler/Composer and 3Arts awardee Brandi Berry Benson, whose “four-string acrobatics” and “indispensable skill” (TimeOut Chicago) have been praised as "alert [and] outstanding" (Chicago Classical Review), as her “riffs… powered by a flashing blur of bow arm, [as they] rolled out with irresistible glee” (Washington Post). She has appeared with numerous ensembles including the Newberry Consort, Kings Noyse, Ars Lyrica Houston, Ensemble Phoenix Munich, Chicago Arts Orchestra, and more. She serves on the faculty of Northwestern and DePaul Universities where she works with the Baroque Music Ensemble, and teaches Baroque Performance Practice and Ornamentation, respectively, and is a faculty affiliate with Northwestern University’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR). For more information, visit https://brandiberrybenson.com/.