Seattle Modern Orchestra presents Among the Trees: Sonic Ecology in the Anthropocene
Seattle Modern Orchestra flutist Sarah Pyle curates an evening of environmental music in which the audience and musicians collectively explore how we are shaped by and shape the natural world. Meadows (2025), a growable graphic score led by Flicker Duo (Sarah Pyle, flute & Janna Webbon, violin), encourages at-home ecosystem restoration, while Caroline Miller’s territories::refrains invites human participation in recreating ephemeral signals from the animal world. Miller’s world-premiere commission, Heat Islands (2025) explores our rapidly-changing environment due to urban tree canopy loss and the resulting man-made effects of urban heat islands. Hilda Paredes’ Chaczidzib for solo piccolo probes themes of displacement and colonialism as sung by the Mayan red-chested bird. To close, George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae hearkens back to a time of nature without humans and celebrates our region’s Orca Recovery Day. An event for dreamers and doers alike, we invite you to come, listen, and “stay awhile.”
PROGRAM:
SARAH PYLE: Meadows – World Premiere
CAROLINE LOUISE MILLER: SMO Commission – World Premiere
CAROLINE LOUISE MILLER: territories::refrains (2020)
HILDA PAREDES: Chaczidzib (1992)
GEORGE CRUMB: Vox Balanae (1971)
About SMO:
Founded in 2010, Seattle Modern Orchestra (SMO) is the only large ensemble in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Led by co-artistic directors Julia Tai and Bonnie Whiting, SMO commissions and premieres new works from an international lineup of composers, in addition to presenting important pieces from the contemporary repertoire that are rarely if ever heard by Seattle audiences. The ensemble “operates at that exciting cusp between old and new, between tradition and innovation” (Vanguard Seattle) curating new sounds and experiences for concert goers in the region.
SMO provides audiences with performances of the best in contemporary chamber and orchestral music, and develops podcasts, lectures, educational residencies, and other forms of community engagement in an accessible and inviting format all designed to expand the listener’s appreciation and awareness of the music of today.
(photo: Amy Vandergon)