Water

The music in the program features a newly commissioned song cycle, from the members of New Vintage Baroque, “The Rivers are Our Brothers,” is a song cycle on ecological responsibility told from the point of view of the land. Written for vocals, vocoder, electric piano, bassoon and violin (Majel Connery, Edwin Huizinga, Ben Matus), the songs in the cycle take a first-person view of nature, ascribing human qualities and feelings to elements of the landscape: water, trees, mountains, rivers, etc.

"The goal is to give nature a voice" says Connery. "I wanted allow these vibrant things to speak on their own behalf. The choice to use a vocoder might seem unusual, but it has the uncanny ability to become these other voices." The title of the cycle is based on a quote from the Native American leader, Chief Seattle, who believed we must relate to our environment the way we relate to our closest kin.

The Rivers are our Brothers premiered June 2021 in a series of concerts including the Sky Room at the Nevada Museum of Art, Lost Marbles Ranch, the Sierra River Valley Preserve, and in 17 mini concerts for elementary school classrooms pre-K through 12 in the Sierra River Valley.

Majel Connery

Majel Connery is a creator, producer, and educator with 15 years of experience executing music productions in a variety of settings both public and private. Connery has held artist residencies and professorships at Stanford University, Princeton University, Oberlin College, and Wellesley College, and has collaborated with noted arts organizations and cultural institutions including the Whitney Biennial, the Kennedy Center, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, and The Kitchen. Her recent endeavors include on-stage improvisation for the Radiolab Live show, "Sex Ed," and writing music for Radiolab's series, "Gonads." Connery holds an A.B. in music from Princeton and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Chicago. She is bicoastal, based between Berkeley, CA, and Rockaway Beach, NY

Edwin Huizinga

Canadian-born violinist Edwin Huizinga is quickly establishing a reputation as one of North America’s most versatile violinists. Edwin will be recording his first solo album, an album with his folk-rock band the Wooden Sky, as well as an album with his duo Liquid Gold, with Grammy award-winning guitarist William Coulter. Edwin can be found on stage all over the world with ensembles such as Tafelmusik, The Knights NYC, A Far Cry, Brandywine Baroque, and more! This season marks Edwin's 10th season as a SweetWater violinist, and as a soloist at the Carmel Bach Festival, as well as his third season as the Artistic Director of the Big Sur Land Trust music camp for young teenagers. This season will also mark his second season as Artistic Director of a ground-breaking mixed-genre series featuring some of Toronto’s biggest names in classical, indie rock, bluegrass, and theatre called Stereo Live.

Ben Matus

Bassoonist Ben Matus developed a love for Early Music at a young age while growing up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. As a boy soprano, Ben's favorite music to sing was from the Baroque and Renaissance eras. Now, Ben indulges his childhood dreams playing historical bassoons and dulcians in New York City and around the country with wonderful colleagues and friends. Ben studied modern bassoon at the Eastman School of Music and historical bassoons at the Juilliard School. In his spare time, he can be found making and drinking coffee, reading, playing lute poorly, or cannot be found as he is deep in the woods. Ben is thrilled to be playing this incredible music in this wonderfully beautiful part of the world.