Florida Music Educators Association
TTBB Choirs
directed by Brandon Boyd

FMEA All-State SSAA & TTBB High School Chorus

Thuŋkašila Imayaluškiŋ

Thuŋkašila Imayaluškiŋ (Grandfather Spirit, You Make Me Happy)

01 Put Me In My Place.m4a

Composer, Researcher, Musician, LGBT+

Multi-ethnic Music Composer in North America that has been actively commissioned, writing music for ensembles and performers across the globe. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Western Music Theory and performed as a Guest Artist for numerous ensembles. His works include a wide array of themes stemming from his cultural, environmental, and spiritual influences. He is currently a freelance composer living in the United States of America.

Dr. Blackhorse (They/He) identifies as Two-Spirit and is an active member of the global LGBT+ community, giving voice to all of those who are marginalized for identifying outside of the hetero-normative Anglo-Christian/American colonial stereotypes—with the goal of one day being accepted, or at the very least tolerated, in our collective humanity.

He began composing on his own at the age of 12, attending Baylor University in 2007 to study Aerospace Science. In 2014 he was accepted into the graduate program for composition at Texas Tech University, completing his Master’s degree in 2016 and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) in 2019.

Dr. Blackhorse is a Pipe-carrier in the traditional spirituality and medicine of the Lakȟóta of South Dakota, United States of America.

As a Čhaŋnúŋpa Yuhá (pipe-carrier), he has spent decades participating in ceremony and spiritual education with a desire to provide factual and honest information to the public. In 2021 MOSAIC was launched as a platform that consolidates the research and knowledge of traditional spirituality. Dr. Blackhorse learned from prominent chiefs and holy-men, wičháša-wákȟaŋ, like Albert White Hat Sr., Sičháŋǧu Lakhóta, among other spiritual leaders.

As a carrier of a two-spirited čhaŋnúŋpa, he has chosen to adhere to a spiritual calling giving a voice to other LGBT+ individuals in the community.  

Dr. Blackhorse represents only himself and does not speak for or on behalf of any Tribal Nation in the United States.

Thuŋkašila Imayaluškiŋ (Grandfather Spirit, You Make Me Happy)

Linthicum-Blackhorse

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