by Dolores Pompa         May 2, 2026

        April 30 of this year is the 55th anniversary of the late Joseph Pompa’s first solo piano recital at the very prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1971. What is so special about this was, as a Lipan Apache, he was one of the very few Natives in the early to mid 20th century to come in the footsteps of others who performed there — Dennis Wheelock, Oneida composer, Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone, Muscogee mezzo-soprano, Mildred Bailey, Coeur d’Alene jazz singer, all preceding the famed Cherokee/Quapaw composer Louis Ballard in 1992.

            My brother, Joe, born in 1946, did not have an easy time of breaking into the classical world, which would eventually become a lifelong passion of his after serving in Vietnam in the Army in 1966. He encountered much racism, for at the time, this was a world dominated by Europeans in the classical genre. His birth was also many years before the Wounded Knee incident, which brought the injustices of Native Americans front and center to the world in a very big way. 

          Son of “Indian Joe” Pompa, of Corpus Christi, Texas, who relocated to New York after marriage and service in the Navy in World War II to become an Indian Ironworker with Local 40, Joseph Jr. blazed a very different path in life with multiple performances following this one.

            We have always had music in our blood. I can still recall seeing my brother play with eyes closed, not having any program in front of him, the music from another time, culture and place. When asked what inspired him, it was love of the genre. His God was the God of the winds, fire, water and earth. He was very proud of my father and his Lipan ancestors, and he honored them by doing what many said he could not due to racial barriers. He reminded me in many ways of Antonio Apache and Carlos Montezuma with his brilliance and high intelligence.

            Joseph journeyed to the other world in 2008. Here is data from Carnegie Hall detailing that first performance of and an article from 1971. He taught you can be whatever you want to be in life, overcoming all obstacles in your way. 

Read more about Joseph at Carnegie Hall Data Lab: Event: "Joseph Pompa, Piano," https://data.carnegiehall.org/events/68541/about