Santa Barbara Symphony Debuts Piece Featuring Chumash Spoken Word

Premiere of ‘Wisdom of the Water, Earth, Sky’ at Granada Theatre Featured Daughter of Last Native Speaker of Chumash Language

Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto —pictured left holding a photo of her mother, Mary Yee, the last native speaker of the Chumash language — was joined on the Granada stage this weekend by fellow Chumash native Marianne Parra (right), who provided English commentary that complemented Ygnacio-De Soto’s spoken-word delivery in Chumash. | Credit: Courtesy

There were a whole lot of firsts packed into two performances at the Granada Theatre this past weekend. It was the first time, for example, that composer Cody Westheimer’s brand-new composition Wisdom of the Water, Earth, Sky was performed by the Santa Barbara Symphony — or any other symphony orchestra for that matter. It was also the first time the Santa Barbara orchestra performed inside the ornate Granada with a vast video screen behind the musicians that displayed swooping panoramic shots of the San Marcos Foothills that also happened to be filmed by the composer. And lastly, it was the first time the spoken Chumash language has ever been incorporated into any symphonic presentation performed in Santa Barbara.

Welcome to Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month, which both — ironically — take place in November.

Providing the Chumash delivery was Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto, a longtime Chumash preservationist, cultural resurrectionist, and tribal elder. Her mother, Mary Yee, was the last native speaker of the Chumash language. Yee died in 1965.