Join the composer and librettist of Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker), Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, and Lokosh (Joshua D. Hinson), executive officer for the Chickasaw Nation Language Preservation Division as they chat with Tianhui Ng, Director of Orchestral Studies at Mount Holyoke College, on the journey of developing and presenting this groundbreaking opera.

Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is a classical composer and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition. He is a 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee and a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from The Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2021, he was appointed a Cultural Ambassador for the U. S. Department of State.

Lokosh (Joshua D. Hinson, PhD) is the executive officer for the Chickasaw Nation Language Preservation Division and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. A conversational speaker of Chikashshanompaꞌ and an award-winning artist, he holds a bachelor of fine arts in painting from Abilene Christian University, a master’s degree in Native American art history from the University of New Mexico, and a PhD in Native language revitalization from the University of Oklahoma. He served as the director of the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program from 2007-2021 and is an advanced second language speaker of Chikashshanompaꞌ.