Curtis alumnus William Frederick Cardin (Composition ’27), known to his colleagues as Fred, and Pejawah (“Big Cat”) to the Miami Quapaws of Oklahoma, was an accomplished composer, conductor, and violinist. Throughout his pioneering career, Mr. Cardin endeavored to raise national awareness of Native American music and art as an integral part of mainstream American culture. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1950, he stated: “The music of the Indian tells a story of those trees. It talks of flowers and grass and hills and valleys in a language all America should know. It is an important and valuable part of the Nation’s heritage, and it should not be allowed to die.” i
Born into the Quapaw Tribe of Miami, Oklahoma, in 1895 to John Alexander Cardin and Martha Etta Kenoyer, Mr. Cardin’s musical talent was recognized and nurtured from an early age, and he began studying the violin at St. Mary’s Catholic School. In September of 1910, at age fifteen, he was admitted to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. There, his musical talents were encouraged and supported by the school’s music director, Fred Stauffer, and he was allowed to practice two hours per day while the other students were playing sports. He graduated in 1912 and pursued his violin studies at the Dana Musical Institute in Warren, Ohio, for three years, with the financial support of the school’s superintendent, Moses Friedman. Under the tutelage of violinist Jacob Gimbel, he was given the support to perform freelance engagements around the U.S. to build his reputation as a musician of note.
Fred Cardin’s extensive formal musical training allowed him to understand the beauty and complexity of Native American music from a theoretical viewpoint; more specifically, he admired the polyrhythmic quality and frequent use of quarter tones. In the Philadelphia Inquirer interview, he also stated, “The universal thing in music is rhythm, and in this, the Indian excels.”
In 1914, Mr. Cardin intended to perform at the World’s Fair in San Francisco but was hired as a violinist with the Chautauqua Institute in New York. Unfortunately, he fell ill with typhoid fever and returned to Oklahoma to recover and receive medical treatment. The twenty-one-year-old violinist seemed to have lost his footing but was then admitted to the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France, where he studied composition under Nadia Boulanger alongside Aaron Copland. During this time, Mr. Cardin built an excellent reputation for himself as a violinist and regularly performed recitals, including both classical repertoire and Indianist compositions.
In 1916, Mr. Cardin became the first violinist of the Indian String Quartet, a group formed by the Indianist composer Ruthyn Turney. The string quartet was comprised of members, each with Native American affiliation: the second violinist was Alex Melodivov of the Aleut tribe in Alaska, the violist was William Palin of the Flathead tribe in Montana, and the cellist was William Reddie of the Hydah tribe in Alaska. Much like Fred Cardin’s individual concerts, the program was often divided in half: first, the classical selections performed in tuxedos, and second, the Native American compositions performed in traditional Native American regalia, thus merging traditional European repertoire with Indian-inspired aesthetics through quartet arrangements of Native American melodies. ii The Indian String Quartet was often featured on the Chautauqua Circuit, a traveling event to bring education and culture to the greater public. iii
Fred Cardin then formed his own group: the Indian Art and Musical Company, a group with ever-changing instrumentation but most often including violin, piano, cello, and voice. They would perform Pueblo Songs, modern harmonized songs, and songs with orchestra together with pieces by Rachmaninoff, MacDowell, and Brahms. In comparison to the Indian String Quartet, this group held greater emphasis on the Native American culture exhibited in their performances; the entire concert and all promotional materials featured the members in Native American dress. Fred Cardin was not only successful as a performer but also as a composer; his main goal was the preservation and appreciation of the spirit of Native American music. His works featured a heavy rhythmic presence with a floating melodic line and were often transcriptions of songs that had only existed in the memory of his people.
In 1926, Mr. Cardin entered the Curtis Institute of Music and studied with Reginald Morris. He excelled at Curtis, completing his composition studies in just one year. He then continued his education at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. Following his time in Philadelphia, he performed with the Kansas City Symphony and served as part of the University of Nebraska’s music faculty before joining a cultural movement called the Chautauqua Circuit, promoting Native American culture.
He was a prolific composer, releasing Cree War Dance with the Carl Fischer publishing company and his collaborations with Thurlow Lieurance (another Indianist composer and musicologist invested in researching and collecting Native American Music): Lament and Ghost Pipes (Indian Idyl) with the Theodore Presser Co. His composition Great Drum for chorus and dramatic reader was performed at the New York’s Town Hall in 1930 and was the only composition to be performed again the following year due to its popularity. iv
In his later years, Fred Cardin taught music at the Reading Senior High School in Reading, Pennsylvania. While there, he wrote a historical pageant, Thunderstorm, that was often performed at high school graduation ceremonies. He was heavily involved in music as the director of the Ring Gold Band (succeeding John Philip Sousa’s work with the ensemble) from 1936 to 1960, served as the music director of the Reading Civic Opera, and was a violinist of the Reading Symphony Orchestra up until his death on August 29, 1960.
Explore more Curtis history at the Curtis Institute of Music Open Archives and Recitals (CIMOAR) digital collections. Learn more about Curtis’s library and archives HERE.
View images of the quartet and promotional materials for the Indian Art and Musical Company HERE.
To locate Cardin’s score, Cree War Dance, on an Indian melody recorded by Thurlow Lieurance for violin and piano visit Curtis’s online catalog.
i Schlosberg, L. (April, 1950). “Heap Fine Musician: The Indian Boy Named for a Wildcat Became a Maestro in Reading, PA” Philadelphia Inquirer.
ii Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture (1900-present). (2021). Retrieved 11 February 2021, from https://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/fall_2008/lush.htm
iii Lush, Paige Clark (Fall, 2008). “All the American Other: Native American Music and Musicians on the Circuit Chautauqua.” Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900 to Present 7, no. 2
iv Troutman, J. W. (2013). Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music, 1879-1974. University of Oklahoma Press.
Photo Credits: 1.) Fred Cardin “Pejawah”. Courtesy of the Music Archives at the Curtis Institute of Music. MacDonald Studio/Curtis Institute of Music Archives. 2.) Portrait of Mr. Cardin from “The Indian String Quartet: and Mr. Richard H. Kennedy” The University of Iowa Libraries: Redpath Chautauqua Collection (MSC0150) 3.) Fred Cardin as he appears in “The Etude Historical Musical Portrait Series.” Page 460 July 1932 Courtesy of the Curtis Institute of Music. 4.) Cover image of a program for the Indian String Quartet in traditional clothing from “The Indian String Quartet: and Mr. Richard H. Kennedy” The University of Iowa Libraries: Redpath Chautauqua Collection (MSC0150). 5.) Mr. Cardin as a member of the Indian String Quartet. Image from “The Indian String Quartet: and Mr. Richard H. Kennedy” The University of Iowa Libraries: Redpath Chautauqua Collection (MSC0150). 6.) Fred Cardin teaching at the Reading High School, photo in the Philadelphia Inquirer April 30, 1950.
On November 3, critically acclaimed Curtis alumna and faculty member, pianist Michelle Cann (ʼ13), and renowned Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa released 
The album is available on all major streaming platforms. Learn more about the recording 
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