Watershed Soundscape | Events

Creek running through cottonwood trees

music + art + landscape 
multidisciplinary concert series

Friday, November 22nd
Saturday, November 23rd
Watershed Management Group Living Lab 

1137 N Dodge Blvd. 
Living Lab tours begin at 5 PM • Concert at 6 PM

$FREE and open to the public

Seating is Limited | REGISTER HERE for Friday or Saturday
 
Join us at the WMG Living Lab for a multidisciplinary concert experience exploring the sounds of our watershed. Before the concert, take some time to enjoy rainwater refreshments and tour WMG's demonstration site for hydro-local living and watershed resilience. The campus is supported by rainwater for all indoor and outdoor needs almost year-round, and includes extensive rain gardens, a native food forest, a 10,000 gallon underground cistern, art exhibits about Tucson’s history of flowing creeks and rivers, a kids’ play area, composting toilets, and so much more.
 
Featuring: 
  • world premiere of a new multimedia piece inspired by the soundscape of Las Cienegas, by composer Carolina Heredia and visual artist Heather Bird Harris
  • traditional O'odham Singing
  • performances by UA School of Music faculty artists
  • music by Sergei Prokofiev, Yuanyuan Kay He, and Lachlan Skipworth
Meet The Performers
Philip Alejo, bass
Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon
Elena Chernova-Davis, violin
Sara Fraker, oboe
Jackie Glazier, clarinet
Esteban Hernandez Parra, viola
Dried plant on white backdrop

Observing and Imagining the Health of the Santa Cruz Watershed with Natural Inks
Visiting Artist Talk & Workshop

November 12, 2-3 PM | Bird Harris Artist Talk
November 14, 2-4 PM | Bird Harris Artist Workshop
School of Art, University of Arizona

$Free and Open to the Public
Limited Availability
 
Bird Harris is an artist and educator who prioritizes caretaking and connection. Her work explores the throughlines between history and ecological crises, engaging with communities, scientists, and site-specific materials to investigate land memory, systems of complicity, and possibilities for emergence.
 
 
As part of the Watershed Soundscape project of the Arizona Institute of Resilience, Harris has created a new video projection piece that documents the behavior of locally sourced earth pigments and plants of the Santa Cruz watershed as they move in water. In the workshop, participants will use these natural inks and watercolors to reflect on the history, present health, and possible futures of the watershed.

 

pronghorn antelope in Las Cienegas

music + art + landscape 
multidisciplinary concert series

Saturday, November 9, 2024  |  3PM  |  Empire Ranch 
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, Sonoita, AZ

$FREE and open to the public
 
Join us in the historic Adobe Hay Barn at Empire Ranch for a multidisciplinary concert experience exploring the sounds of our watershed. Situated within the spectacular landscape of Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, this unique event kicks off the Watershed Soundscape project, supported by the 2024-2025 AIR Annual Resilience Theme Award.
Featuring: 
  • world premiere of a new multimedia piece inspired by the soundscape of Las Cienegas, by composer Carolina Heredia and visual artist Heather Bird Harris
  • traditional O'odham Singing
  • performances by UA School of Music faculty artists
  • readings by Alison Hawthorne Deming and Gretchen Henderson
  • music by Sergei Prokofiev, Yuanyuan Kay He, and Lachlan Skipworth
Plan Your Visit
In addition to attending the 3PM concert, you may want to "choose your own adventure" to experience more of the Las Cienegas landscape:
 
Meet The Performers
Philip Alejo, bass
Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon
Elena Chernova-Davis, violin
Alison Hawthorne Deming, poet
Sara Fraker, oboe
Jackie Glazier, clarinet
Gretchen Henderson, poet
Ivan Ugorich, viola

Program Notes