Timothy Archambault
Encyclopedia
Timothy Archambault is an American Native American flutist
, architect, and composer
.
Algonquin First Nation
, a people indigenous to the Ottawa River
area of eastern Ontario
and southern Quebec
, Canada, and his ancestry also includes several other U.S. and Canadian tribes including the Métis
Nation of Quebec. He graduated with two degrees (bachelor of architecture and bachelor of fine arts) from the Rhode Island School of Design
, taking courses in music theory
at Brown University
during this time.
), and has collected songs of his Kichesipirini heritage, from elders in Canada as well as from archival wax cylinder recordings made in the early 20th century.
In addition to performing in traditional styles, since the early 21st century he has achieved notoriety for being one of the few Native American flutists to perform contemporary classical music
on the instrument. He is able to play complex chromatic
music on the Native American flute, and is the first enrolled member of a North American indigenous nation to master this style. He has performed the music of Native American composers David Yeagley, George Quincy
, and Raven Chacon
. His recording of Yeagley's Wessi vah-peh, for Native American flute and orchestra, performed with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice, will be released by Opus One Records in late 2008. He was the first person to use the old "warble" technique (in which a single flute tone "splits" into a multiphonic
oscillation) within the context of contemporary classical music.http://www.fnci.org/member.aspx?ID=10133
Archambault is planning to record, in late 2008, a solo album of compositions by David Yeagley entitled Suite Tragique which is dedicated to the Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, as well as a collaborative composition utilizing traditional Anishinaabe
g musical notation
with the Navajo composer Raven Chacon. He recorded an orchestral work entitled The Choctaw Diaries by the Choctaw composer George Quincy, which was released by Lyrichord Classical on June 17, 2008.http://www.georgequincy.com/http://www.lyrichord.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=314 In 2008, he joined an all-Native American orchestra called The Coast Orchestra.http://www.myspace.com/thecoastorchestra
As a composer, in the spring of 2007 he composed a work for solo cello for the Mohawk
cellist, as a part of her North American Indian Cello Project;http://www.dawnavery.com/naicp/bios.php#Timothy_Archambaulthttp://www.fnci.org/tabid/74/Default.aspx this work will be released on CD in late 2008.
Archambault is a member of the First Nations Composer Initiative
and performed at the National Museum of the American Indian
in Washington, D.C.
in November 2006. In August 2007 he recorded traditional Kichesipirini flute songs for the National Museum of the American Indian archives and in 2008 he was one of the First Nations Composer Initiative judge panelists who awarded several grants to American Indian musicians.http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417548
Additionally, he performs as a volunteer musician for the Bugles Across America organization, playing "Taps
" on the bugle
for the funerals of veterans of the United States Armed Forces
, due to the shortage of buglers in the employ of the United States Department of Defense
.http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/volunteer.php?mode=full&state=NY
, China
, where he is a project manager at the Beijing office of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture; he is currently designing a large-scale architectural project in Southeast Asia. Before taking this position he worked as a Project Architect in Rotterdam
and New York City
, working on the designs for the Prada
Soho
Store, the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan
(commissioned in 2001 and completed in 2002),http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=portal&Itemid=10&id=660 and the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas
(commissioned in 2004 and scheduled to be completed in 2008).http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=portal&Itemid=10&id=62 Prior to joining OMA in 1999, and helping to establish its New York office, he worked for Pasanella+Klein Stolzman+Berg Architects in New York on the Pratt Stabile Hall Dormitory, and for Frank O. Gehry and Associates in Los Angeles
on the Samsung Museum of Contemporary Art and the Walt Disney Concert Hall
.
.
Native American flute
The Native American flute has achieved some measure of fame for its distinctive sound, used in a variety of New Age and world music recordings. The instrument was originally very personal; its music was played without accompaniment in courtship, healing, meditation, and spiritual rituals. Now it...
, architect, and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Background
Archambault is a member of the KichesipiriniKichesipirini
The Kichesipirini are an Algonquin indigenous people of Canada. Their traditional homeland and primary village was located on Morrison Island in the Ottawa River , as well as territory on both sides of the river in Ontario and Quebec, including...
Algonquin First Nation
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
, a people indigenous to the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
area of eastern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada, and his ancestry also includes several other U.S. and Canadian tribes including the Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
Nation of Quebec. He graduated with two degrees (bachelor of architecture and bachelor of fine arts) from the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
, taking courses in music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
during this time.
Musical career
Archambault began playing the Native American flute in 1989 and has devoted intensive study to the earliest recordings of the instrument, dating back to the early 20th century. He has also studied informally with the Native American flutists Kevin Locke (Lakota) and Edmund Wayne Nevaquaya (ComancheComanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
), and has collected songs of his Kichesipirini heritage, from elders in Canada as well as from archival wax cylinder recordings made in the early 20th century.
In addition to performing in traditional styles, since the early 21st century he has achieved notoriety for being one of the few Native American flutists to perform contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
on the instrument. He is able to play complex chromatic
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
music on the Native American flute, and is the first enrolled member of a North American indigenous nation to master this style. He has performed the music of Native American composers David Yeagley, George Quincy
George Quincy
George Quincy is an American composer and conductor of Choctaw heritage. He has composed for theater, dance, music, and television....
, and Raven Chacon
Raven Chacon
Raven Chacon is an American composer and artist. He is known as a composer of chamber music as well as a solo performer of experimental noise music...
. His recording of Yeagley's Wessi vah-peh, for Native American flute and orchestra, performed with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice, will be released by Opus One Records in late 2008. He was the first person to use the old "warble" technique (in which a single flute tone "splits" into a multiphonic
Multiphonic
Multiphonics is an extended technique in instrumental music in which a monophonic instrument is made to produce several notes at once....
oscillation) within the context of contemporary classical music.http://www.fnci.org/member.aspx?ID=10133
Archambault is planning to record, in late 2008, a solo album of compositions by David Yeagley entitled Suite Tragique which is dedicated to the Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, as well as a collaborative composition utilizing traditional Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
g musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
with the Navajo composer Raven Chacon. He recorded an orchestral work entitled The Choctaw Diaries by the Choctaw composer George Quincy, which was released by Lyrichord Classical on June 17, 2008.http://www.georgequincy.com/http://www.lyrichord.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=314 In 2008, he joined an all-Native American orchestra called The Coast Orchestra.http://www.myspace.com/thecoastorchestra
As a composer, in the spring of 2007 he composed a work for solo cello for the Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
cellist, as a part of her North American Indian Cello Project;http://www.dawnavery.com/naicp/bios.php#Timothy_Archambaulthttp://www.fnci.org/tabid/74/Default.aspx this work will be released on CD in late 2008.
Archambault is a member of the First Nations Composer Initiative
First Nations Composer Initiative
The First Nations Composer Initiative is an organization dedicated to the promotion of new music by Native American composers. It is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States and affiliated with the American Composers Forum. Its Program Director is Georgia Wettlin-Larsen and its Advisors...
and performed at the National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in November 2006. In August 2007 he recorded traditional Kichesipirini flute songs for the National Museum of the American Indian archives and in 2008 he was one of the First Nations Composer Initiative judge panelists who awarded several grants to American Indian musicians.http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417548
Additionally, he performs as a volunteer musician for the Bugles Across America organization, playing "Taps
Taps
"Taps" is a musical piece sounded by the U.S. military nightly to indicate that it is "lights out". The tune is also sometimes known as "Butterfields Lullaby", or by the lyrics of its second verse, "Day is Done". It is also played during flag ceremonies and funerals, generally on bugle or trumpet...
" on the bugle
Bugle (instrument)
The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure, since the bugle has no other mechanism for controlling pitch. Consequently, the bugle is limited to notes within the harmonic series...
for the funerals of veterans of the United States Armed Forces
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
, due to the shortage of buglers in the employ of the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
.http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/volunteer.php?mode=full&state=NY
Architectural career
Archambault lives in BeijingBeijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where he is a project manager at the Beijing office of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture; he is currently designing a large-scale architectural project in Southeast Asia. Before taking this position he worked as a Project Architect in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, working on the designs for the Prada
Prada
Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women , founded by Mario Prada.-Foundations:...
Soho
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
Store, the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
(commissioned in 2001 and completed in 2002),http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=portal&Itemid=10&id=660 and the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
(commissioned in 2004 and scheduled to be completed in 2008).http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=portal&Itemid=10&id=62 Prior to joining OMA in 1999, and helping to establish its New York office, he worked for Pasanella+Klein Stolzman+Berg Architects in New York on the Pratt Stabile Hall Dormitory, and for Frank O. Gehry and Associates in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on the Samsung Museum of Contemporary Art and the Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
.
Personal
Archambault is a hereditary senator of the Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, and is active in tribal issues, keeping close ties with the nation, which is based in Pembroke, OntarioPembroke, Ontario
Pembroke is a city in the province of Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...
.
External links
- Timothy Archambault biography from National Museum of the American Indian site
- Timothy Archambault page from First Nations Composer Initiative site
- "Timothy Archambault bio", dawnavery.com
Listening
- Timothy Archambault audio samples
- "American Indian Composers Go Classical", by Felix Contreras, from All Things Considered, January 1, 2009
Video
- Timothy Archambault videos, youtube