A voice for the 'Voiceless': Diné composer Raven Chacon wins the Pulitzer Prize for Music

May 9—Diné composer, performer and installation artist Raven Chacon has won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his composition "Voiceless Mass." He is the first Native composer to win a Pulitzer.

"This work considers the spaces in which we gather, the history of access of these spaces, and the land upon which these buildings sit," Chacon wrote in his Pulitzer Prize entry questionnaire. "Though 'mass' is referenced in the title, the piece contains no audible singing voices, instead using the openness of the large space to intone the constricted intervals of the wind and string instruments. In exploiting the architecture of the cathedral, 'Voiceless Mass' considers the futility of giving voice to the voiceless, when ceding space is never an option for those in power."

The Albuquerque-based Chacon's work is currently on display at New York's Whitney Biennial through Sept. 5.

Chacon's 2020 opera "Sweet Land," co-composed with Du Yun, was performed outdoors at the Los Angeles State Historic Park. The piece earned critical praise for its revisionist telling of American history using different perspectives simultaneously. The opera was awarded best opera by the Music Critics Association of North America for 2021.

Chacon has been mentoring hundreds of Native high school composers in the writing of string quartets through the Native American Composer Apprenticeship Project since 2004.

For his second stop at the Whitney, Chacon brought works developed from 20 years of sonic research. He created 13 graphic scores dedicated to Indigenous women composers, including artists such as Joy Harjo (Muscogee Creek Nation), the former U.S. poet laureate; and First Nations singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Born in Fort Defiance, Arizona, Chacon grew up in Albuquerque, where he earned his bachelor's in music degree at the University of New Mexico. He received his master's degree from the California Institute of the Arts. Today he teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts. He has also taught at UNM, Bard College, Colorado College and the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Chacon's father was from Mora, while his mother came from Chinle, Arizona.

He took piano lessons at a young age. Although he didn't stick with the keyboard, learning to read music would prove critical.

His grandfather sang traditional Navajo songs. Chacon veered more toward heavy metal and experimental music, navigating the New Mexico band scene.

He describes his solo sets as "noise."

After the Biennial, he has been invited to a residency at Philadelphia's Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.