Des Moines violinist talks about her music honoring the Osage people ahead of Scorsese's film

The day before Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated new film “Killers of the Flower Moon” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, a professional violinist and Des Moines Symphony member performed a piece about the same harrowing, important time in history.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” depicts the murders of the Osage people that began in the early 1920s to acquire their wealth made from oil on their land. It’s adapted from David Grann’s nonfiction book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.”

The film received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and has received praise from the Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear.

Geneviève Gros-Louis — a professional violinist and film composer of the Huron-Wendat Nation who previously performed under her last name, Salamone — has called West Des Moines her home for 10 years, performing with the Des Moines Symphony, which she credits for helping her learn to write film music.

She was hired by Sky-Eagle Collection fashion designer and artist Dante Biss-Grayson, a member of the Osage tribe, to compose a collection of pieces that honored the Osage people and the stories of the real-life families portrayed in the movie, Gros-Louis told the Des Moines Register.

At the Hotel Le Gray d’Albion in Cannes, France, during the 76th annual Cannes Films Festival, she performed her music as part of Biss-Grayson’s piece, an amalgamation of spoken word, live music and a fashion show steeped in emotion.

It was a fashion show, but one that felt like “ceremony” to Gros-Louis.

“A lot of times Indigenous peoples will hold ceremonies for things with big medicine, we say like there's a big medicine in this story,” she said. “There's a lot of intergenerational trauma. There are a lot of moving parts, and that's why it's so important to acknowledge that there are still survivors of this massacre, of this genocide, that took place.”

Gros-Louis, who composed for Season 3 of National Geographic’s "Life Below Zero: First Alaskans," will discuss her involvement with the film before the screening of “Killers of the Flower Moon” on Oct. 20 at Varsity Cinema, 1207 25^th St. in Des Moines.

“It's so, so important that these stories are being told,” she said. “This is a huge step in representation in the right way. It's incredibly powerful to see that (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’) went the extra mile.”

Gros-Louis’ work was turned into an EP called “Flower Moon: Honoring the Osage” and will be available on streaming platforms on Oct. 19.

Creating music to honor the Osage people

Biss-Grayson is a direct descendant of Henry Roan, who was murdered during the Reign of Terror, or the name used to refer to this period of history, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

His project, in collaboration with Gros-Louis, was the headliner at an event in Cannes produced by another Indigenous group. That was in the works before the premiere of “Killers of the Flower Moon” at Cannes, he said.

He called the experience “amazing,” and invited members of the cast and crew to his show, many of whom are his relatives. It was also an honor for Biss-Grayson to be with Indigenous designers, all part of a “new movement” of native fashion.

Gros-Louis said that while she wrote music for this, she was heavily in conversation with Biss-Grayson, who sent her recordings of him dancing in traditional regalia. She incorporated the bells used by Osage people in their regalia in her music, as well as Biss Grayson’s spoken word performance titled the “Reign of Terror.”

“The core of the pieces are explaining about the tragedies, explaining about my feelings, internalizing how I grew up with the issues impacting my tribe, but also to shed more light on it, but with a little bit of looking toward the future,” Biss-Grayson said. “How do we get past generational trauma? We're never going to forget that, but we also don't want to get stuck in a cycle of generational trauma where it holds down native communities to a point where they can't succeed.”

Biss-Grayson also sent her samples of drums, and she listened to war dances for inspiration. Over the course of three months, Gros-Louis created a symphony comprised entirely of her own violin, though she did hire a Des Moines Symphony member to play some cello parts as well.

The performance was nearly 20 minutes long, a collection of pieces set against Biss-Grayson’s collection of clothes.

“I was just really honored that he trusted me to be able to help him tell that story through music,” she said. “Again, to have the space to be able to honor people in this way at these kinds of platforms like the Cannes Film Festival is really amazing.”

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 'Killers of the Flower Moon' Cannes premiere had a Des Moines musician