Native music = symphonies and operas

American Indian Musicians Make Many Kinds of MusicAmerican Indian musicians are composing and playing not only traditional music but also works for string quartets, chamber and symphony orchestras, ballet and opera as well experimental works, jazz, rap and reggae.

In popular culture, American Indian music often is perceived as “drumming, native percussion and some chanting,” said Howard Bass, cultural arts manager of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, which recently hosted an unprecedented gathering of native composers and classical musicians for a series of classical concerts and recitals.