Raven Chacon's 'Drum Grid' to Activate USU Campus Through Shared Performance

LOGAN, Utah — Diné artist Raven Chacon will coordinate Cache Valley percussionists of all ages and abilities for a performance of “Drum Grid” this month at Utah State University.

“Drum Grid” transforms local neighborhoods and college campuses into dynamic, living musical compositions by orchestrating a call-and-response collaboration among numerous drummers placed on street corners or throughout the city's systems.

In this case, from 3-4 p.m. April 12, performers will be located on corners and landmarks across the USU Logan campus. The musical performance will evolve as new rhythms and patterns emerge, with the campus landscape creating natural echoes and polyphony.

Chacon is bringing this work to USU in conjunction with the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art’s exhibition “Repainting the I: The Intermountain Intertribal Indian School,” where students created art that reflected their identity and community. This performance is part of NEHMA’s Music + Music Series, connecting visual art with music.

Chacon’s artistic practice explores indigenous identity and experience. It focuses on the creation of musical works that cut across boundaries of visual art and performance to illuminate landscapes, their inhabitants and histories.“Drum Grid” offers a unique opportunity to build community and explore the relationship between sound, space and people. This event is free and open to all.

About Raven Chacon

Raven Chacon is a composer, performer and installation artist born at Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation. In 2022, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Voiceless Mass, and in 2023 he was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship.

He has exhibited, performed or had works performed at LACMA, The Whitney Biennial, Borealis Festival, SITE Santa Fe, The Kennedy Center and more. As an educator, Chacon is the senior composer mentor for the Native American Composer Apprentice Project.