The Compassion Arts & Culture and Animals Festival
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The Compassion Arts & Culture and Animals Festival Featuring the World Premiere of And the Hummingbird Says . by Mihoko Suzuki and Martin Rowe Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space 2537 Broadway, New York City Saturday October 21, 2017: 1:45–3:45 pm and 7:30–10:30 pm Sunday October 22, 2017: 1:45–5:30 pm and 7:30–11:00 pm plus an art exhibition: Friday 5:00 pm–Sunday 6:00 pm at 208 E. 73rd St. Art Show: Beasts of Burden Festival Schedule Our Complex Relationship with Animals Featuring art by Jo-Anne McArthur, Moby, Performances Jennifer Wynne Reeves, Jane O’Hara, Karen Fiorito, Nancy Diessner, Wendy Klemperer, Tony Openings Bevilacqua, Denise Lindquist, Gedas Paskauskas, Ariel Bordeaux, Adonna Khare, Raul Gonzalez III, Julia Oldham, and Moira McLaughlin. Events O’Hara Projects. 208 East 73rd Street SUNDAY OCTOBER 22—AFTERNOON (Off Third Ave at TUF Gallery) 11 am–6 pm: Art Show: Beasts of Burden FRIDAY OCTOBER 20 O’Hara Projects. 208 East 73rd Street. 5–8 pm: Art Show: Beasts of Burden Reception 1:45 pm: Introduction and Welcome 2:00 pm: The Music of Michael Harren: a multi- SATURDAY OCTOBER 21—AFTERNOON media performance blending humor with candor 11 am–6 pm: Art Show: Beasts of Burden to convey the importance of keeping all animals O’Hara Projects. 208 East 73rd Street. safe from harm. With string quartet. 1:45 pm: Introduction and Welcome 3:00 pm: Break 2:00 pm: And the Hummingbird Says . : Composed 3:15 pm: Kedi (2016): dir. by Ceyda Torun, about the by Mihoko Suzuki, with words by Martin street cats of Istanbul. Rowe. A song cycle based on the life and ideas of 4:45 pm: Discussion between Ayten Alkan, a Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist Turkish academic who’s explored the lives of stray and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Featuring dogs in Istanbul, and Yanoula Athanassakis of Elaine Lachica (soprano), Hai-Ting Chinn NYU’s environmental humanities department. (mezzo), Michael Steinberger (tenor), and Steven 5:30 pm: Break Moore (baritone). With Tim Cramer (sound). SUNDAY OCTOBER 22—EVENING 3:00 pm: Signing of Hummingbird CD. 7:30 pm: Introduction and Welcome 3:45 pm: Break 7:45 pm: Sanctuary: A Radio Play: John Yunker’s SATURDAY OCTOBER 21—EVENING radio play on fraught relationships over 7:30 pm: Introduction and Welcome Thanksgiving dinner is recorded live by the 7:40 pm: Tom Regan: A Life by Dale Jamieson members of Our Hen House. 8:00 pm: Reflections onBeasts of Burden: Singer- 8:45 pm: Break songwriter Joy Askew, artist Jane O’Hara, and 9:00 p.m.: The Journeys of Abu’l Abbas and Al-Hindi: poet Gretchen Primack weave song, spoken Radhika Subramaniam traces the story of the word, and art to express our complex, tragic, and elephant given to Charles the Great by Caliph indispensible relationship with other animals. Harun al-Rashid, in an examination of the 9:00 pm: Break relationship between human and animal, Europe 9:15 pm: Captive: Canadian photojournalist Jo-Anne and Asia, and human and animal migration. McArthur discusses with Martin Rowe her 9:45 pm: Break images of animals in the human environment, 10:00 pm: Food-Chain Re-imagined: Singer- and introduces Captive (her most recent work, songwriter Ellie Sarty, spoken-word artist and launched in NYC this evening): photographs of curator Donald Vincent, and others offer music, animals in zoos and aquaria. video, and performance on social justice, 10:00 pm: Booksigning animal advocacy, and kinship. 10:30 pm: End 11:00 pm: End Welcome! About the Festival Co-Presenters Compassion Arts and the Culture & Animals Compassion Arts Festival Foundation (CAF) welcome you to the Compas- facebook.com/compassionarts sion Arts & Culture and Animals Festival: a twitter.com/compssnArts weekend of song, artistry, and discussion on compassionarts.org our multifaceted relationships with Earth and the animals with which we share it. Culture & Animals Foundation facebook.com/cultureandanimals As well as the artists we present, we’re honored twitter.com/cultureanimals to host the world premiere of And the Humming- youtube.com/cultureanimals bird Says . , a song cycle on the life and ideas of instagram.com/cultureanimals linkedin.com/company/18248001 Wangari Maathai. You can read about Wangari, cultureandanimals.org the cycle, and more on pages 3–10. We thank Symphony Space, Monica Broadman, Tom Regan (1938–2017) Jeff Goad, and associates in the sound, lighting, and projection departments for their assis- This Festival honors the life and tance. We appreciate the commitment, artistry, legacy of the late Tom Regan— and knowledge of all who are presenting and CAF’s co-founder, and one of the most important voices in the modern performing. We thank Laurie Johnston and Two animal advocacy movement. Tom Trick Pony; Cyrus Mejia for “Encounter,” the was the author of the groundbreaking painting on our program cover; Mike Crehore The Case for Animals Rights (1983) and Patricia Sarty; Marisa Miller Wolfson for and many other books on animals, philosophy, and social em-ceeing; and Jane O’Hara and O’Hara Proj- justice. With his wife, Nancy, he founded CAF in 1985. For ects for organizing the art show. We’re grateful 23 years, CAF organized the International Compassionate to the volunteers, advertisers, and sponsors who Living Festival (ICLF) in Raleigh, where Tom was a made this Festival possible. We also thank CAF’s professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University, board: Mia MacDonald, Nancy Regan, Jo-Anne and where the Tom Regan Animal Rights Archive is now McArthur, Kim Stallwood, Martin Rowe, Marion housed. Much like this festival, the ICLF brought artists, Bolz, Gary Comstock, and Mylan Engel. academics, and activists together to learn from and be inspired by those opening the doors to our knowledge of The Festival is raising funds for two charities. other-than-human animals. Tom was a giant in the animal Proceeds beyond costs from the sale of CDs advocacy movement and he will be much missed. This of And the Hummingbird Says . will go for festival is in his honor and is a continuation of his work. scholarships to students at the Juba Diocesan cultureandanimals.org w Model Secondary School (JDMSS) in South Sudan. We’ve already raised enough for a child through intellectual and artistic expression. For more informa- to attend JDMSS for all four years. To see how tion on CAF, visit the sites in the box on this page. We hope you can help other students, see page 6. you’ll give what you can to help these organizations continue to educate and challenge the next generation of changemakers and For the remainder of the Festival, all proceeds leaders—in Africa and throughout the world. after costs go to CAF, which provides grants for artists and scholars who wish to advance our Martin Rowe for the Culture & Animals Foundation and Ellie understanding of, and compassion for, animals Sarty for Compassion Arts Festival. w 1 And the Hummingbird Says . Conceived by Mihoko Suzuki and Martin Rowe Music: Mihoko Suzuki Words: Martin Rowe Saturday, October 21—1:45 pm nd the Hummingbird Says . is a song cycle own musical language. Loss of cultural identity, I based on the ideas, words, and life of the think, is a fear that many of us non-Westerners have Alate Kenyan environmentalist shared at some point in our lives. Wangari’s role as a and Nobel Peace Laureate, Wangari female politician in a world dominated by men Maathai (1940–2011)—seen through is another aspect I could relate to, since I’m the lens of the five classical Buddhist often labeled as a ‘woman composer’ instead Japanese elements (earth, water, fire, of ‘a composer.’ You won’t necessarily wind, and void). Mihoko Suzuki and hear what you imagine to be the sound Martin Rowe were inspired by Maathai’s of ‘Africa’ in this song cycle, but I try to humanity and her commitment to conservation, convey its spirituality and richness social justice, women, and the marginalized. You can through polyrhythm and polymeter read about Wangari Maathai on page 10. in overlapping or juxtaposed sonic patterns. With the words, the interwoven The title of the song cycle refers to a fable told to harmonic timbres explore a poetry of sound drifting in Maathai by a Japanese scholar, about a humming- and out of tonality like a wandering soul.” bird who tries to put out a forest fire with only the water in its beak. In the face of ridicule and despair Mihoko writes that she and Martin were drawn to and passivity from the other animals, who point out Wangari Maathai because of their shared commit- how insignificant it is and how futile are its efforts, ment to conserve the planet and the other species the hummingbird replies, “I’m doing what I can.” A who share it with us. Mihoko writes: “It’s so hard to synopsis and libretto are on pages 7–9. express one’s feelings about the disappearance of so much biotic life: the subject is so vast and imper- Martin writes: “Our verbal and sonic influences are sonal. But Wangari’s struggles—as a non-Westerner, varied. The effect is at once clarity and purity of line as a post-colonial survivor, as a campaigner for and a collage of sometimes conflicting voices that democracy, and as a passionate defender of Mother reflect Maathai’s complexities and the difficult, some- Earth—embodied its importance for me.” times tragic choices facing colonized peoples, envi- ronmental activists, and people of conscience.” The aim of And the Hummingbird Says .