Pitch(es) for the Planet – Dinosaur Annex and Project EcoMusic

Dinosaur Annex will be collaborating with Project EcoMusic, a rising concert series aimed at promoting conservation as an artistic practice. Through this collaboration, Dinosaur Annex will be premiering two works, Metamorphosis of Plants by emerging Boston composer and environmentalist Luke Blackburn (commissioned by Boston Musica Viva’s “Write it Now” initiative), and en.to.moph.a.gy for alto flute, bass clarinet, violin, and cello by Atlanta-based Singaporean composer Emily Koh (commissioned by Project EcoMusic).

Further building upon Project EcoMusic’s motto “conservation as an artistic practice,” Koh’s piece, en.to.moph.a.gy, brings entomophagy (the consumption of insects) to the performing arts. Entomophagy, in Koh’s words, “…is more than just a delicious treat. Grasshopper, cricket, and even scorpion farming produce significantly less greenhouse gas emissions, use a fraction of water, and are healthier substitutes for livestock welfare.”

Works by John Luther Adams and inti figgis-vizueta, centered on environmentalism in sound, round out the program; readings of environmental poetry will be interspersed.

Musical performers include our beloved Dino Annex musicians Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin (flutes), Diane Heffner (clarinets), Donald Berman (piano), and Gabriela Diaz (violin), with guests Tiffany Chang (conductor), Meghan Miller (piccolo), Piero Guimaraes (percussion), Stephen Marotto (cello), and Sabrina Sadique (reciter).

John Luther Adams: songbirdsongs
inti figgis-vizueta: earthmaker
Emily Koh: en.to.moph.a.gy
Luke Blackburn: Metamorphosis of Plants

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Waltham Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency; the Mass Cultural Council; and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.