Event

Water Stories in the Illuminated Forest

Water breathes life and destruction to our world. Water stories looks into the power of these forces in our lives. Innovative chamber ensemble REDSHIFT on piano, violin, clarinet, cello, takes the audience on a sonic journey into the Colorado River "Red River" (2007) featuring its composer Mason Bates on live electronics. Combining chamber with the rhythmic power and drama of electronics, Red River traces the river flows, from its source in the Rockies, through a landscape transformed by human activity, until it arrives exhausted at its final resting place in the vast emptiness of the Sonoran Desert. Mason Bates' unique musical voice skillfully unlocks the environmental lessons drawn from the history of one of America's great rivers.

Called the finest string-band in America, Crooked Jades Trio bring to the surface the past trials and tribulations of how water effected rural life on this planet, floods, the transportation of slaves, ocean migration, sinking ships and drought and on the other side exploring the early ritual songs of Baptism- submerging the body in the beautiful pool to wash away the sins of the world, rebirth and salvation.

Composer Theresa Wong concocts a world turned upside down through her unique melding of video projection, text and performance on voice and cello. Part play, part science lecture and part opera experiment, Wong will present a new work examining the fragility of the ocean's biosystems by illuminating the lives of a few legendary Bay Area grains of sand.