SEASON 5
Elderflora
ELDERFLORA
IF TREES COULD TALK, THIS IS THE TALE THEY’D TELL.
Elderflora is a song cycle on the life of a tree from birth to death. Told from the perspective of the tree itself, Elderflora (“old trees”) follows its journey from tiny seedling born by fire, to towering megaflora in the sky, to decaying nurse log on the ground. Elderflora is also a metaphor for the human experience. Trees, like us, want to feel the sun on their faces. And trees, like us, sometimes climb too high.
Conceived and written by Majel Connery, a Classical vocalist turned electronically curious, Elderflora is steeped in Classical resonances filtered by modern technology. For audiences, the cycle is an immersive 1-hr experience through technicolor soundscapes, ethereal vocals, and the stirring strains of electric cello (played by Felix Fan).
Inspired by the Native American belief that we must relate to the environment as our kin, Elderflora harnesses the human capacity to personify the world helping us see humanity in a tree.
About the composer:
Majel Connery is a composer, performer, podcaster and musicologist. Her music has been called “superb” by the New York Times and “thoroughly Schubertian” by the Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on Radiolab, Kennedy Center Live, and New Sounds radio.
The Rivers are our Brothers, Connery’s song cycle on ecological responsibility, was commissioned by Musica Sierra and is being toured by Grammy-winning choir Chanticleer. This fall, Connery toured Rivers as a duo with electric cellist Felix Fan in the Southwest, in Italy, and returns in the spring to Ohio and California with Australian duo Bowerbird.
Connery is the host and producer of A Music of Their Own, an interview podcast on NPR about women in the music industry. She appears frequently as a solo artist, and with NYC-based art-rock band, Sky Creature.
Felix Fan is a versatile cellist known for his dynamic performances and collaborations. He has performed with renowned musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, and Janos Starker in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center. His solo engagements include appearances with the San Diego and Pacific Symphonies, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Munich Chamber Orchestra. In 2006, Fan recorded Gordon Chin's Double Concerto with violinist Cho-Liang Lin and the Kansas City Symphony.
Fan's passion for contemporary music has led to collaborations with leading composers like George Crumb and Tan Dun. He has performed with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and joined the Flux Quartet in 2008. In 1998, he founded Muzik3, a series dedicated to modern music, leading to the formation of the trio Real Quiet, which has premiered over 20 works.
Fan's diverse projects include radio plays with actors like Steve Buscemi and Meryl Streep, and collaborations with choreographers such as Karole Armitage. He studied under prominent cellists and plays the 'Haussman' Stradivarius of 1724.
Garden
Musical Headwaters: Garden
Join us for our fifth year of commissions for Musical Headwaters with Year of the Garden ft. new songs by Owen McIntosh, performed by Nightbirds and Fire & Grace.
Musica Sierra is thrilled to present "Musical Headwaters: Garden," the fifth commission in its innovative series. This year's program bridges nature-based education with the visual and performing arts, featuring newly composed songs by Owen McIntosh inspired by the Sierra Valley. In collaboration with Fire & Grace and Nightbirds, led by Jade Hendrix, these powerful and moving songs are designed for our youngest learners, ages 4-6, yet resonate with audiences of all ages. Join us for a week of educational concerts and two public shows integrating Earth Science, Ecology, Language Arts, and the Arts. This commission, following Rob Wade's Outdoor Core Mountain Kid curriculum, will be recorded for educational use, enriching our next Musical Field Journal. Don't miss this unique opportunity to deepen environmental stewardship through the arts.
Schedule (Tentative):
March 26, 27, 28: Educational Assemblies at Sierra Plumas-Joint Unified Schools, Plumas Schools, Washoe County Schools, and Tahoe Truckee Unified School District
March 28 & 29: Public shows tbd
NIGHTBIRDS
United originally by their California roots and love for folk music, Nightbirds emerged out of the shared experience of newfound motherhood. Each member recognized their precious free moments after the little ones were put to bed when creative musings could finally be explored. The powerful new chapters in their lives called for a deeper well of expression. The band’s collective sound is poignant, yet it evokes a sense of innocence, a quality inspired by the presence of their children.
Jade Hendrix brings her soulful vocals and insightful songwriting to the ensemble. Instrumentalists Sam ‘n Ash (an established folk duo comprising of accordion and mandolin) complement Jade’s crooning with their inventive melodies and effective arrangements. The trio fuses classic folk themes with expressive vocals, resulting in a unique and compelling blend that can only be described as a sound all their own.
FIRE & GRACE
Fire & Grace is an eclectic collaboration between guitarist William Coulter and violinist Edwin Huizinga. This unique duo explores the connective musical elements of classical, folk, and contemporary traditions from around the world. Fire & Grace’s repertoire is vast, ranging from Bach to Vivaldi, tango to Celtic tunes, traditional Bulgarian to American fiddle tunes and waltzes, all played with a sense of discovery and commitment to the elements of passion and virtuosity — fire and grace — found in these diverse traditions. Recent and upcoming performances have included engagements at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Mozaic Festival, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, the Electric Earth Concerts, the Monterey Museum of Art, and with Tomaseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas. In March and April 2017, Fire & Grace toured to New Zealand with appearances at the UPSURGE Festival, the Festival of Colour, and the New Zealand School of Music. The group’s self-titled debut album combines melodies from Argentina, Bulgaria, and Western Europe with dance elements from baroque and folk musical traditions.
OWEN MCINTOSH
Described by the New York Times as a "lovely, tender high tenor" in one concert and "appropriately brash" in another, three-time Grammy nominee and Gramophone Award-winning tenor Owen McIntosh is widely known for the color and creativity he brings to the stage as a soloist and chamber musician. Having performed for fifteen years, McIntosh now dedicates his time to his family and inspires the next generation through SEL-focused music education, emphasizing healthy singing, musicianship, and music literacy. As Tk-12th grade music director in Loyalton, California, McIntosh's dream is to one day bring music education back to the level of importance of all the other liberal arts pillars, providing the youth once again with a complete education experience.
Carolyn Enger, Steinway Pianist
Carolyn Enger joins us again for a week of educational concerts and a show at the Nevada Musume of Art!
Fauna Sierra Suite
"Fauna Sierra Suite" is a compositional work-in-progress by Musica Sierra's composer-in- residence JJ Hollingsworth which was commissioned by Musica Sierra. Instrumentation includes piano, voice, baroque oboe, and children's desk bells. The work grew out of a fundraising project that the composer started while snowbound at Sierraville Cabin Artist's Retreat For Food and Fun (aka SCARFF) during the record snowstorm of December 2021. JJ busied herself with restoring an antique Victorian quilt when it occurred to her she should be making one from scratch for raffle to benefit Musica Sierra. So she designed and executed a raffle quilt based on the Victorian aesthetics and techniques of quiltmaking. One of the standout features of this genre is embroidered images scattered throughout the quilt. So she searched online and ordered embroidered applique images of six animals that she had spotted around the cabin over the years.... Black Bear, Sandhill Crane, California Quail, Blue Jay, Monarch Butterfly, and Whitetail Deer. "Fauna Sierra Suite" was born.
Musica Sierra presents Resonating Earth performed by Carolyn Enger
Friday, December 15 | noon
Join us for a musical performance and conversation between Carolyn Enger and Lindsay McIntosh, Executive Director of Musica Sierra. Critically acclaimed pianist Carolyn Enger’s Resonating Earth is a multimedia solo piano performance that creates a meditative space for listeners to engage with museum and environmental art, in order to directly inspire environmental action afterward.
Julian Graef, violin, viola and Anita Graef, cello
Violin/Viola Cello Duo Extrordinares!
This dynamic program of duet works for violin/viola and cello explores music with wide-reaching influences, including classical, contemporary composition, tango, and jazz. Performed by brother and sister duo Julian and Anita Graef, this concert presents a program all about the beauty and simplicity of nature through works that explore nature and bird songs. Come and experience a musical adventure; full of intrigue, fun, questions, and transformations.
In a week-long residency serving the students Plumas-Sierra Schools this powerhouse brother-sister duo will perform a program inspired by the natural beauty around us. From birdsong to the Vivaldi’s Four Seasons this program will engage and inspire you.
Chanticleer: Music in a Silent World
Musica Sierra presents Chanticleer in a Musica of a Silent World program as part of their Musical Headwaters program
A river gurgles. Wind rushes. Branches creak. Snowflakes faintly fall. Every piece of the world has a sound. But if you listen really closely, you might also find that each of these pieces has a song. In Music of a silent world, Chanticleer sings the songs of the natural world and gives a voice to the otherwise voiceless rocks and stones and trees and rivers that share our planet with us. The program centers around a new arrangement of Majel Connery’s The Rivers are our Brothers. "The goal,” she says, “is to give nature a voice. I wanted to allow these vibrant things to speak on their own behalf." While inhabiting those voices, the program also explores what the world might be like without them. Repertoire includes music by William Byrd, Heinrich Isaac, and Max Reger, new arrangements of “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty and “The Weather” by Lawrence, and a new commission from Chanticleers's composer in residence, Ayanna Woods.
Chanticleer and Musica Sierra are co-commissioning a choral arrangement of the song cycle The Rivers are our Brothers by Majel Connery. The original intent of the piece was to, in Majel’s words, “give nature a voice” and to create an appreciation for that voice in our communities. The work was first performed in the Sierra Valley as part of Musica Sierra’s Musical Headwaters program in 2021, and Majel’s music and text are inexorably linked with that area. Each movement represents a different part of the Sierra Nevada’s natural beauty, from its mountains to its forests, rocks, rivers, and snow banks. We believe that appreciation of these natural phenomena leads to understanding and valuation, leading to caring and protection.
During our 23/24 partnership Chanticleer will present this piece as part of our national touring program in the 2023-2024 season (approximately 45 concerts); we will encourage as many people as possible to appreciate, value, and protect this unique landscape. Chanticleer is based in San Francisco, so our 12 singers know first-hand the grandeur and majesty of the Sierras, and we also feel first-hand the effects of climate change on those mighty mountains. Forest fires and drought are always on our minds, and we need everyone around the country, not just those living in California, to understand how climate change affects our livelihood. We need to foster an appreciation for our landscape in people around the country who have never experienced it.
A week of events….
Sept 28, 2023
Plumas-Sierra County
Educational performances
Sept. 29, 2023
7 pm
The Nevada Museum of Art
In Music of a Silent World, internationally recognized Chanticleer sings the songs of the natural world. Each movement represents a different part of the Sierra Nevada’s natural beauty, from its mountains to its forests, rocks, rivers, and snowbanks. This program centers around a new arrangement of Majel Connery’s, “The Rivers are Our Brothers”, co-commissioned by Chanticleer and Musica Sierra. The work was first performed in the Sierra Valley as part of Musica Sierra’s Musical Headwaters program in 2021. In the spirit of educational collaboration, local school groups participate in the performance of The Rivers are our Brothers. This particular performance will feature the University of Nevada, Reno’s Chamber Chorale.
*Doors open at 6 pm with cash bar
This program is presented as part of UPSTAGE: A Literary and Performing Art Series supported by the Nightingale Family Foundation and the Williams Foundation.
Sept 30, 2023
7 pm
Diamond S Ranch
Music in the Barn
Join us for a spectacular night of enchanting music with Grammy Award-winning choir Chanticleer. Performing in one of the Sierra Valley's oldest barns and most beautiful barns, Diamond S Ranch, will offer up the perfect venue for these angelic voices.
Music of a silent world, Chanticleer sings the songs of the natural world and gives a voice to the otherwise voiceless rocks and stones and trees and rivers that share our planet with us.
Co-commissioned with Chanticleer, their program centers around a new arrangement of Majel Connerys The Rivers are our Brothers. "The goal, she says, is to give nature a voice. I wanted to allow these vibrant things to speak on their own behalf." While inhabiting those voices, the program also explores what the world might be like without them. Repertoire includes music by William Byrd, Heinrich Isaac, and Max Reger, new arrangements of Wildflowers by Tom Petty and The Weather by Lawrence, and a new commission from Chanticleers's composer-in-residence, Ayanna Woods.
Doors at 6 PM
Show at 7 PM
Cash or card for the bar, snacks and merch