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Wheelock Variations in Concert

Performance Art Concert

What’s Happening?

Guitarist Alexander Lassa and composer Charles Shadle present Wheelock Variations: The Choctaw Hymn Tradition in a Contemporary Context, a concert that celebrates both musicians’ tribal identity as enrolled members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

The central work on the program is Shadle’s Wheelock Variations, a 25-minute work for solo guitar, commissioned by Lassa, that is based on “Vba Isht Taloa 139” (Choctaw Hymn 139). The title of Wheelock Variations references the historic Wheelock Academy near Millerton Oklahoma/Choctaw Nation, and the nearby Wheelock Church. Both bear the name of Eleazar Wheelock (1711–1779), Congregational minister and founder of Dartmouth college, and an important advocate for the education of Native American people. Wheelock Academy was established by the respected early missionary to the Choctaws, Alfred Wright (1788-1853), who founded the school in 1832. He and his congregation built the stone Wheelock Church in 1845–46. Very much in the severe style of the New England country meeting house, it is the oldest church building in Oklahoma. It has recently been returned to the ownership of the Choctaw Nation.

In part, Wheelock Variations memorializes this event, while also engaging, through musical means, with the complex history of the place and its people. Wheelock Variations can be heard as an act of cultural preservation that understands that the past, in order to stay viable, must be continually reimagined, so that it remains accessible to both Choctaw and non-Choctaw listeners.

Guitarist Alexander Lassa and composer Charles Shadle present Wheelock Variations: The Choctaw Hymn Tradition in a Contemporary Context, a concert that celebrates both musicians’ tribal identity as enrolled members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

The central work on the program is Shadle’s Wheelock Variations, a 25-minute work for solo guitar, commissioned by Lassa, that is based on “Vba Isht Taloa 139” (Choctaw Hymn 139). The title of Wheelock Variations references the historic Wheelock Academy near Millerton Oklahoma/Choctaw Nation, and the nearby Wheelock Church. Both bear the name of Eleazar Wheelock (1711–1779), Congregational minister and founder of Dartmouth college, and an important advocate for the education of Native American people. Wheelock Academy was established by the respected early missionary to the Choctaws, Alfred Wright (1788-1853), who founded the school in 1832. He and his congregation built the stone Wheelock Church in 1845–46. Very much in the severe style of the New England country meeting house, it is the oldest church building in Oklahoma. It has recently been returned to the ownership of the Choctaw Nation.

In part, Wheelock Variations memorializes this event, while also engaging, through musical means, with the complex history of the place and its people. Wheelock Variations can be heard as an act of cultural preservation that understands that the past, in order to stay viable, must be continually reimagined, so that it remains accessible to both Choctaw and non-Choctaw listeners.

More about Peabody Essex Museum
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. PEM provides thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities and sciences to celebrate the creative achievements and potential of people across time, place and culture. By connecting people through inquiry, empathy and dialogue, PEM encourages an understanding of our shared humanity and fosters a sense of belonging in a complex, ever-changing world.
When & Where
Nov 14, 2025, 1:00pm to 2:00pm Timezone: EST
$25.00


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