The Coast Orchestra

The Coast OrchestraFounded in 2008, the Coast Orchestra was created to perform the original score to Edward Curtis's 1914 silent film "In the Land of the War Canoes." The mission of the Coast Orchestra is to promote classically-trained Native American musicians to perform music about Native Americans. The score is based on romanticized ideas and Hollywood themes about Native Americans. The Coast Orchestra hopes to re-interpret this fantastical score in a meaningful and thought-provoking way. The Coast Orchestra members come from Alaska, Arizona, New York and Washington D.C. and represent twelve Indian nations.

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Project Partners

U’mista Cultural Centre 
The Getty Research Institute
UCLA Film & Television Archive
The Field Museum
Milestone film & video
University of Washington Press
Autry National Center 
The Moore Theatre (Seattle Theatre Group)
The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Seattle International Film Festival
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia - First Nations and Indigenous Studies
UBC Centenary 2008
National Gallery of Art
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
American Museum of Natural History
New York University
Rutgers University
Bard Graduate Center