Pieces are performed by composer, cellist, vocalist, educator, GRAMMY and NAMA nominated performer Dawn Avery who has worked with musical luminaries Pavarotti, Sting, Glass, Cage, Cale, Shenandoah, and Nakai.  World music artist, she creates a contemporary soundscape from electronica, pop and classical elements.  Her sultry vocals and soaring cello lines reflect a deep spirituality rooted in her Native American heritage.  Dawn Avery's Mohawk name is Ieriho:kwats and she wears the turtle clan. Committed to Indigenous language and cultural preservation as a musician, educator and participant of Longhouse ceremonies, she leads workshops and produces projects as part of the Native Composer’s Project and Longboat’s Idawadadi Project, with residential school survivors.  She’s currently touring multi-media projects with guitarist/ producer, Larry Mitchell -  50 Shades of Red and Love Songs for a Changing World, featuring downtempo music.  Their recent Off-Broadway production and recording with Heather Henson (Jim Henson legacy), Crane on Earth, in Sky, won two Global Music Awards.  In addition, her music can be heard in award-winning Native films including:  The Smithsonian’s “Always Becoming” by Nora Naranjo-Morse and “Don’t Get Sick After June: Indian Health Care” by Rich/Heape Films, Court Innovation’s “Pallayup,” “Dos Almas” by Villegas, and "Rohati:io Raising the Word,” by Ellingson.She commissions and records new works by Native composers as part of the North American Indian Cello Project.  Dawn Avery is a professor at Montgomery College in Maryland and holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology with primary research on the application of Indigenous theory on Native Classical Composers and their music.