Panelists

A member of the Yaqui people of southern Arizona, Gabriel Ayala is at the forefront of a new generation of Native Americans making a career performing classical music.  He began playing the guitar as a child.  He earned a Master's Degree in Music Performance from the University of Arizona in 1997, has taught at all educational levels from elementary through college, and serves as a competition adjudicator. Although Gabriel truly enjoys being a teacher his busy touring schedule allows him to only teach in masterclass settings.
Ayala performs regularly throughout the United States and has appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Museum for the American Indian, ASU Kerr Cultural Center and Oscar Meyer Theater in Madison, Wisconsin.  He has been recognized by the former State of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, now Director of Homeland Security, for his musical achievements. In addition, he has also been honored as the Artist of the Month for the Indigenous Internet Chamber of Commerce (IICOC). Gabriel has also been named Tucson Citizen of the Month and recognized as the leading artist in Tucson for 2009 in “9 to watch in 09”. Not only is Gabriel recognized locally and in the United States but has had the opportunity to be the featured performer at the “Festival Internacional de la Guitarra Academica” in Venezuela with Performances in Caracas, Guarenas, Guatire and on National Public Television throughout Venezuela.
Gabriel was selected as one of ten musicians featured in “Native Musicians in the Groove” highlighting stories of musicians in their struggles while persevering with a career in music. He also has been featured in several media publications such as “Native Peoples”, “Indian Country Today”, “SAY Magazine” (Canadian and United States Editions), “Spirit of the Southwest (German Publication)”, “Native America Calling”, “Canadian Broadcasting Corporation” and numerous others.
Ayala has released three self-distributed albums: “Self Titled” in 2003, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in 2007 and “Tango!” in 2008. He has also been a featured artist on several other CD releases. Gabriel signed with record label Canyon Records to release their first classical CD, “Portraits” on Canyon Records Explorer Series- Classical. The Explorer Series is the new sub label developed by Canyon to be able to feature Native Americans performing music outside of the traditional genre. Gabriel has been breaking stereotypes amongst Native and Non-Native people by performing classical, jazz, flamenco, and new compositions of his own. In 2009, Gabriel was nominated and performed in the Indian Summer Music Awards, Native American Music Awards, Aboriginal People Choice Awards, and the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. He led the Native American Music Awards (NAMMY’s) with the most nominations and received Best Instrumental CD for “Tango!”. Gabriel received many accolades in this year alone including the honor of sharing the stage with Motown living legends The Four Tops and The Temptations.
As Ayala continues to travel throughout the United States and other countries he serves as an advocate for education for all youth while instilling his values of living a traditional lifestyle while abstaining from Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco. Gabriel believes in leading our children in the right direction through his philosophy, “Honor your elders, love your children, and respect your women”. Gabriel wants to share the gift of music with as many people and show children that they can become whatever they dream. Gabriel currently resides in Tucson, Arizona.
www.ayalaguitarist.com

Kirsten C. Kunkle, soprano, is originally from Fremont, Ohio and is currently a resident of Wilmington, Delaware.  Her undergraduate degree is from Bowling Green State University in voice performance with minors in Italian and German and year abroad at the University of Salzburg.  Her graduate degrees are in voice performance from the University of Michigan.  A young dramatic soprano with an extensive lower range, she has performed extensively in many roles throughout various genres, including opera, operetta, and musical theatre.  Kirsten has also specialized in Zwischenfach repertoire (featuring both the mezzo-soprano and soprano ranges).  She is represented by MIA Artists Management.
A voting member of the Muscogee Nation, Kirsten commissioned and premiered sixteen original compositions, including one of  her own, based upon the poetry of her ancestor and highly-acclaimed poet of the Native American Muscogee Nation, Alex Posey, as part of her graduate studies.  She has recorded extensively through the Comic Opera Guild, specializing in the works of Victor Herbert. Her recordings are collected at the Library of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution, and the Merkel Area Museum in Merkel, Texas.  She is also on the list of Classical Native American Artists and Musicians at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

http://www.kirstenckunkle.com/index.html

Taiawagi Helton, professor of Law, currently faculty of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where he teaches environmental law, property law, and Indian law.  His research emphasizes environmental and natural resources issues relating to Native Americans, as well as nation building in Indian country.

Helton began his legal career as a clerk for the Honorable Robert H. Henry, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.  He has served as a Special Justice for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Supreme Court (2004-2008) and as a member of the Board of Directors of Oklahoma Indian Legal Services. In 2012, Helton received the O.U. Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching, the University’s highest award for teaching excellence.

Helton earned his Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School in 2001.  In 1999 he received a juris doctor degree with highest honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Tulsa Law Journal and earned membership in the Order of the Curule Chair.

https://www.law.ou.edu/directory/taiawagi-helton

Currently the Music Director of Opera Theatre at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, Timothy Long has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a pianist, conductor, and educator. His engagements have included companies such as the Boston Lyric Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Juilliard School, New York City Opera, Opera Colorado, Utah Opera, Maryland Opera Studio, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra. He has participated in numerous summer festivals including the Moab Music Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and the Caramoor Festival. Formerly named assistant conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, he was subsequently named associate conductor of the New York City Opera. Off-Broadway, he was conductor and featured pianist for The Music Teacher, a “play/opera” by Wallace Shawn and Allen Shawn. Bridge Records released a recording of this unique show with Parker Posey and Wallace Shawn in the leading roles. Most recently, he completed a recording of two Dominick Argento song cycles, The Andrée Expedition and From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, with celebrated baritone Brian Mulligan. Tim is an associate professor at SUNY-Stony Brook and music director/co-founder of Voices of Hope. He is from the Choctaw and Muscogee Creek tribes and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

http://timothylongmusic.com/

 Marique Moss is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota (Hidatsa). She graduated cum laude from Fort Lewis College with a degree in Native American and Indigenous Studies. In April 2019 she was named Outstanding Student of the Year. Marique honors all of her identities, which led to her senior thesis entitled “What is Black, White, and Red All Over?” in which her Black, White, and Indigenous identities emerged. She has been invited to present these concepts at several venues. As an executive officer with the Fort Lewis Black Student Union, she helped spearhead inaugurating a physical space for Black students on the campus, which at the time made up less than 1 percent of the student population. Marique is currently in her second semester at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, pursuing a Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law. Her professional goal is to apply her expertise to Native communities and Indian Country towards achieving equity with the dominant culture through self determination.

Thaddeus Strassberger is a young American director who manages to straddle the sometimes very different worlds of European and US opera production seamlessly. Strassberger's productions are fresh and thoughtful, and he often presents us with modern parallels without being contrived,' writes Opera Now Magazine. His career as a director and scenic designer for opera in Europe and North America was launched when he was awarded the prestigious European Opera Prize in 2005 for his production of LA CENERENTOLA (Opera Ireland / Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden). Following the success of his production of Ambroise Thomas' HAMLET for the Washington National Opera conducted by Placido Domingo and Patrick Fournillier, he returns to the Kennedy Center this season to direct and design the scenery for Verdi's NABUCCO. His new productions of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Norwegian National Opera) were highly praised by both critics and the public and are scheduled for revivals in the coming seasons due to popular d and. His production of the rarely heard Rossini's LA GAZZETTA (Rossini in Wildbad Festival, Germany) garnered nominations for both Best Production and Best Direction from Opernwelt Magazine in 2008. Following his critically acclaimed new production ofemeyerbeer's grand opera LES HUGUENOTS at the Bard Summerscape - the first staged production in New York in nearly a century - he returned to create the first American staged production of Franz Schreker's masterpiece DER FERNE KLANG in Summer 2010. He returns again in 2012 to direct the North American staged premiere of Chabrier's opera-comique LE ROI MALGRE LUI. Other highlights include LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck), AIDA (Lyric Opera of Kansas City), ORFEO ED EURIDICE and TURANDOT (Theater Augsburg), LA TRAVIATA and DIE ZAUBERFLoTE (Arizona Opera), LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (l'Opera de Montreal), and ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (Wolftrap Opera). In addition to returning to the Norwegian National Opera, Strassberger's upcoming engagements include debuts with the Los Angeles Opera, Theater an der Wien (Vienna), Opera Company of Philadelphia, The Minnesota Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London). Strassberger earned his degree in Engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advanc ent of Science and Art in New York City and further studies were supported by a Fulbright Fellowship to complete the Corso di Specializzazione per Scenografi Realizzatori at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 2001. 

Moderator : 

Multi-award winning, Acoustic World Folk artist, Jackie Tice, is hailed as “an important voice among songwriters.” She embraces and communicates an inclusive world view through the lens of her mixed Native American Cherokee and Eastern European ancestry. Her appearances at the United Nations, UNICEF, and with performers from five continents, have solidified her reputation as an International artist bridging the relationship of Nature and Human Nature through incisive songwriting, soulful vocals and spirited Native American Flute compositions. Greg Clayton of Australia’s Spirit Horse Productions declared her, “truly unique…one of the most open and expressive vocal artists in the USA today.”