Yesterday Music in the American Wild toured Shenandoah National Park in preparation for our June 18 concert at the Byrd Visitor Center. It was a great day: friendly people, beautiful weather, and a sighting of three bears, to boot! Many thanks to Shenandoah's Tim Taglauer, who has been a great collaborator in this whole endeavor. We're excited to further explore the beauty of Shenandoah this summer, and we hope to see you in the park on June 18!
Alongside our in-park performance, you can also hear us in a free performance at The Theatre at Washington, Virginia on June 17 at 8:00 PM. This historic theater is located in the quaintest little town, and it will be a thrill to play in this great space!
In a few short weeks Music in the American Wild will receive the eleven brand new, parks-inspired pieces our composers have been creating over the past months. In the meantime, we've been taking members of our MAW team outdoors to make some recordings to share with you! Below you'll hear violinist Jeremy Potts and cellist Daniel Ketter performing some Bach on their Luis and Clark string instruments. Enjoy!
If you're a musician who would like to share photos or videos of your own outdoor performances, we would love to help share them on our website or facebook page. Email us at musicintheamericanwild@gmail.com or connect with us through facebook to tell us about your performances in the wild!
Leap Day is proving to be a lucky one for Music in the American Wild! Everything is coming together on the tour front, as we continue to confirm events in new spaces and start working out the details of each performance. Our June tour is officially set, so check out our TOUR page to see where you can find us early in the summer. We are so excited for our performances at Mammoth Cave, the Smokies, and Shenandoah, and we hope to provide our audiences there a new way to connect with these beloved parks - through music. If you can't make it to a park or prefer a more formal performance, you'll be able to hear us at some fantastic indoor venues along the way, including Locust Grove Historic Estate, The Theatre at Washington, Virginia, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
We've had a string of crazy, indecisive weather in our home base of Western New York the past few weeks, and our musicians are just itching to get outdoors to perform in and explore our country's national parks this summer. If you're also feeling that cabin fever, we here at MAW suggest checking out your favorite national park's social media feed. They're just killing it with their photos and videos this winter!
We are so excited about our logos designed by Lauren Blair. All of our animals are singing, growling, and jumping for the National Park Service centennial! Which is your favorite?
Dan trying out his new Luis and Clark cello at the beach!
Happy new year from Music in the American Wild!
And happy centennial year to the National Park Service! This centennial celebration is the heart of our whole endeavor, and we are thrilled to play a musical part in honoring the amazing spaces our country has protected for the past hundred years - and will hopefully continue to protect for hundreds more!
MAW was recently gifted a suite of carbon fiber string instruments made by Luis and Clark. With these instruments, our string players can go anywhere without fear of damaging their instruments, and this means that we can share our music with more people and travel to farther-flung, wilder places in the national parks and beyond during our summer tour. We are extremely grateful for this amazing gift.
Over the holidays our cellist, Dan Ketter, tested out his brand new Luis and Clark cello on the North Carolina seashore. Here's his new year's gift to you!
Our Music in the American Wild cellist tests out his brand new Luis and Clark carbon fiber cello with a familiar new year's tune.
Last week Music in the American Wild traveled to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, to scout out some cave venues for our upcoming June performances. Mammoth Cave is a magical place, and the folks who work there are warm, dedicated, creative, and wonderful people. MAW director Emlyn Johnson had a fantastic meeting and brainstorming session with a team led by Vickie Carson and Leslie Price of the National Park Service, and Helen Siewers, Director of the Friends of Mammoth Cave. This awesome group of women had so many great ideas about integrating our music into the park and creating an event that will make for a great celebration of the National Park Service centennial.
It was a total delight to tour the caves and test out the incredible acoustics in various locations, and we're so excited about Mammoth Cave being our first national park of the MAW tour. Looking forward to heading back to Kentucky in June!
Emlyn Johnson with Friends of Mammoth Cave's Helen Siewers and Mammoth Cave rangers Vickie Carson and Leslie Price.
