Nature Inspired Music at The Parrish Art Museum

[caption id="attachment_55210" align="alignright" width="539"] The Cadillac Moon Ensemble.[/caption]

The Parrish Art Museum will present a nature inspired music program on Friday, September 9 at 6 p.m. to commemorate the centennial of the National Park Service with two world premieres.

The Landscape Music Composers Network assembled the concert, which will feature the Cadillac Moon Ensemble (CME). The first premiere is “Refuge” by Sag Harbor native, Nell Shaw Cohen, and “Of Wolves and Rivers” by Justin Ralls. Members of the ensemble include violinist Karen Kim, flutist Roberta Michel, cellist Aminda Asher, and percussionist Sean Statser. Four of the composers whose works will be performed will also be in attendance at Friday’s event.

“Refuge” is a narrative suite that tells wildlife conservation stories through three musical portraits—the Mission blue butterfly of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle of Padre Island National Seashore, and the bison of Yellowstone National Park. Each species offers a unique perspective on the Park Service’s role in wildlife conservation. This is Ms. Cohen’s second collaboration with the Parrish, after her wind quintet “Watercolors” in 2012.

The second world premiere, “Of Wolves and Rivers” by Mr. Ralls, was inspired by innovative research on trophic cascade in Yellowstone. The work explores the theme of “ecological listening” in parks, encouraging listeners to engage with natural sounds by integrating soundscapes made from field recordings with instrumental textures.

All of the featured composers are members of the Landscape Music Composers Network—“a newly formed group of established and emerging composers unified by a passion for increasing awareness of the natural world through music.”

Tickets are $20 and $10 for members and students and can be purchased at http://parrishart.org/programs/CadillacMoonEnsemble.