Dvořák Project

Cultural Crossroads: Dvořák in America

Cultural Crossroads: Dvořák in America is a live concert experience that explores the Black and Indigenous musical influences on Antonín Dvořák during his years in the United States. The program interweaves original Native American melodies, moving African American spirituals, and Dvořák’s most beloved chamber works, enriched with storytelling, video, and imagery to create a powerful multimedia experience. With its stellar cast of musicians, Cultural Crossroads invites deep audience engagement—entertaining, educating, and inspiring, all sparked by the curiosity of a Czech composer more than a century ago.

Touring Ensemble

Cultural Crossroads: Dvořák in America brings together eight world‑class artists for international touring:

  • R. Carlos Nakai – Native American flute
    Featured soloist:

    • Kenneth Kellogg – bass

    • Robert Sims – lyric baritone

  • Ciompi Quartet

  • Will Clipman – percussion

  • Pamela Freund‑Striplen – viola

Availability

Now available for international touring.
For booking and scheduling, please contact:
Pamela Freund‑Striplen – pamela@pfsmusic.org

A new Czech-American collaboration

This December we travel to Dvořák’s homeland for three concerts—in the Antonín Dvořák Museum and Liechtenstein Palace in Prague, and the Antonín Dvořák Memorial in Vysoká u Příbramě—in a special collaboration with the Stamic Quartet and four of our American musicians. Together we’ll bring the American musical influences that shaped Dvořák back to his country of birth, completing the circle of this transatlantic story.

Cultural Crossroads: Dvořák in America – Performances & Media

Media

Upcoming U.S. Performances & Outreach

  • February 3, 2027 – Outreach program, National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

  • February 4, 2027 – Concert, Sinclair Auditorium, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

  • February 6, 2027 – Concert, Polsky Theatre, Midwest Trust Center, Overland Park, Kansas

Selected Past Performances

  • Washington, DC – National Gallery of Art

  • North Carolina – Duke Arts, Baldwin Hall, Raleigh

  • South Carolina – Brooks Center for the Fine Arts, Clemson

  • Illinois – Eastern Illinois University, Dvořák Hall, Charleston

  • Florida – Beaches Fine Arts, Jacksonville

  • Arizona – Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix

  • Arizona – Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe

  • California – Ohlone Hall, Pleasanton

  • California – Gualala Arts Center, Gualala

  • California – Gold Coast Chamber Players, Lafayette

Archival video

Cultural Crossroads: Dvorak in America results from decades of research and development. Special thanks to the musicians whose meaningful contributions during the global pandemic and beyond helped to shape the project. We thank Soprano Michele Kennedy, the Alexander String Quartet, and Native flutist Mary Youngblood (featured in the archival video) for their artistry and fundamental discussions.

Archival Projects

Unique programming was a signature of the Gold Coast Chamber Players and earned GCCP awards such as Best East Bay Concert Series and the Arts and Culture Award for Contra Costa County. Take a look back at some of these archival projects developed by Pamela Freund-Striplen.