The Lakota Music Project bills itself as the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra’s “flagship Bridging Cultures program.” Attempts to forge a bond between Native and non-Native Americans through the power of music are not unprecedented. But none has generated the international excitement of, say, the celebrity-studded Silk Road Ensemble. That’s OK! Think local! This year, SDSO presents a world-premiere co-creation by Derek Bermel in tandem with the Creekside Singers drum keeper Emmanuel Black Bear (a drum keeper! what exactly does the term imply?), and another by Jeffrey Paul in tandem with the Dakota cedar flutist Bryan Akipa (a cedar flutist! why cedar?). Tribal composers in training at the SDSO’s Music Composition Academy are on the program as well. The tour kicks off at the Crazy Horse Memorial in Crazy Horse and wraps at the LSS Multi-Cultural Center in Sioux Falls, with stops along the way at three schools and a college campus. Admission free at all locations. If in striking distance, don’t miss this. —Matthew Gurewitsch