Video Album with ArtistShare

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new fan-funded ArtistShare project - a Music in the American Wild video album!

Back in May we recorded our first studio album: 11 new pieces and two hours of music. Now we are partnering with ArtistShare to release not only the audio recording, but an enhanced video album that will include striking visuals from our 2016 tour. This album will combine fantastic new music with beautiful footage from our seven partner parks: Great Smoky Mountains, Olympic, Shenandoah, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, San Juan Island, and Mammoth Cave.

At Music in the American Wild our goal is to inspire, build, and strengthen communities through new music. We feel like we've found a great partner in ArtistShare, because their mission is also one of connection - connecting like-minded artists and audiences who want to share in the process of creating exciting new work.

We can't wait to share this new video album with all of you!

Summer Camp

Tomorrow we head to Avaloch Farm Music Institute for a week of music making in beautiful New Hampshire! We're excited to regroup and experiment with some new sounds with composers Chris Chandler and Tonia Ko. Check back here for updates from our Avaloch residency!

New Music USA!

We are thrilled to announce that Music in the American Wild has been awarded a 2017 New Music USA grant! We are excited to embark on this new commission project, a trio for flute, violin, and cello by composer David Liptak. You can learn more about this new project HERE, and while you're on the site make sure to check out the other 2017 awardees - it's an amazing group of artists!

Thanks to New Music USA for all they do to support contemporary music commissions and performances. We can't wait to share this new trio with all of you!

Paul R. Judy Grant

We are pleased to announce that Music in the American Wild has been awarded a 2017 Paul R. Judy grant for a new commission project! Our American Wild Ensemble will be collaborating with composer Caroline Mallonee on a new work that celebrates the women who fought for civil rights the passage of women's suffrage, for a performance at the Women's Rights National Historical Park in 2018. (More updates coming soon!)

We are looking forward to adding voice to our ensemble and to working with another unique National Park Service site that provides profound historical and cultural value to our country. And as much as we love to travel, we are really excited to celebrate the amazing local history of our home base in New York state!

That's a Wrap!

Last week we spent upwards of 30 hours in the studio rehearsing and recording our first album, comprised of all 11 pieces we commissioned last year in celebration of the National Park Service centennial. It was really meaningful to return to these pieces that we premiered in the national parks last summer, and the music brought up so many funny stories and great memories of our first forays into the wild. What a group, and what a week!

We'll be sharing more about the album process in the coming months, so check back here and follow us on social media for updates. And thank you again to all who have supported our journey so far. We're looking forward to sharing this album and many future adventures with you!

Notes from the Studio

This week we're recording our first album! It's been a great week so far, with the whole ensemble back together in the studio at Eastman School of Music. We've brought wonderful collaborators on board with conductor Kevin Holzman, producer Paul Coleman, and the Eastman engineering team, and we're looking forward to sharing all these works with you in a few months!

7 pieces down, 4 to go!

Summer 2017 Adventures

We are excited to announce that Music in the American Wild has been accepted for an August 2017 residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute. In August we'll travel to New Hampshire for a week of making music in the woods with composers Tonia Ko and Chris Chandler, and we can't wait to see what new projects bloom from our time together there!

Check out the full list of Avaloch residents here. Looking forward to a fantastic summer!

Videos Posted!

Please check out our new MEDIA page for videos from our 2016 summer tour. More photos and recordings will be added in the coming days, so check back in soon!

And We're Back!

Over the next few days we'll be updating our website with the remainder of our photos, videos, and updates from our 2016 tour. We fell off the bandwagon (or tripped off the trail, really) updating our site in the midst of our adventures in Washington, but we have many stories and memories to share!

In the meantime, please take a peek at our Facebook page, where we've stayed up-to-date with our posts and given you a glimpse into what our musicians have been up to this year. Also check out this blog post reflecting on our project from our director, published on Eastman School of Music's Paul R. Judy Center blog!

Enjoying the sunshine on the ferry to San Juan Island

PC Geoff Sheil

Mid-Tour Review

Hello from North Cascades National Park! We've spent the past week in Washington playing concerts and enjoying the mountains, forests, lakes, and beaches of this beautiful state. What we've been lacking in wi-fi we've made up for in performances for enthusiastic, receptive audiences in inspiring locations!

Today marks our last day at North Cascades NP, where we are so grateful to Denise Shultz and the team at the North Cascades Institute for making our residency possible. We spent a few days at charming San Juan Island National Historical Park, where we played at English Camp and American Camp with the assistance of Raena Parsons and got to enjoy porpoises and seals at Lime Kiln State Park!

Tomorrow we head to Mount Rainier, then on to Olympic. Please check out our Facebook page for lots of photos from our tour so far, and look out for more posts coming soon to this page!

Pacific Northwest Tour Kickoff // 13 WHAM TV interview with Alexis Arnold // Seattle Times Plug

Hello friends!

Just five days left to help us with fundraising for our second tour. If you haven't yet, please check out all of the wonderful audio and video from our last tour on Kickstarter. Remember that every donation helps us to travel, perform and create media to share our music with more people like you!

Click here to explore the Kickstarter

We just finished our first day of rehearsal for our tour of the Pacific Northwest, including San Juan Island National Historic Park, North Cascades National Park Complex, Mount Rainier National Park, and Olympic National Park. Our performance times and locations are all set at these locations: check out our TOUR page for more details.

To start the tour, we are performing at the George Eastman Museum to complement their current exhibit, "Photography and America's National Parks." This morning, we played on the local news station 13 WHAM ABC with Alexis Arnold and discussed our upcoming tour and weekend concert at the GEM. Check out this awesome interview!

Click here to view the video

In addition, our Washington tour was plugged by the Seattle Times, suggesting things to do in area parks this summer. Nice!

Click here to view the story

Kickstarter Updates

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT OUR KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN!

With 16 days to go on our Kickstarter campaign, we have raised 22% of our goal! Check out our campaign page for lots of new audio and video footage from our first tour, and please consider supporting our Pacific Northwest adventure!

Thank you to our generous supporters who have made donations already, and thank you to our whole online community for your support of our musical endeavors in national parks across the country!

Kickstarter Launched! August Tour Soon!

We just put together a Kickstarter campaign to help offset our costs for the August tour. There is tons of awesome new audio and video from our June tour available in the campaign, so be sure to check it out. If you aren't able to contribute, remember that sharing our content and the Kickstarter is a great way to help. Remember that every dollar will help our musicians share more music and media all over the country to celebrate the National Park Service centennial with people like you!

Click here to check out our Kickstarter campaign.

TV News Feature with Matt Molloy and 13 WHAM, Rochester, NY

Yesterday we met up with Matt Molloy of 13 WHAM in Rochester, NY, by Eastman School of Music to discuss Music in the American Wild. They were so nice to do a feature yesterday evening on our project! Thanks Matt; it was great to meet you!

Click here to watch the feature.

July Update: Southeast Tour Success!

Images and outdoor field recordings from our tour of Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains, and Shenandoah National Parks.

Images and outdoor field recordings from our tour of Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains, and Shenandoah National Parks.

Enjoy this trailer made by our videographer, Jorge Arzac, showcasing our southeast tour. We played concerts at Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains, and Shenandoah National Parks, as well as performed at Locust Grove in Louisville, KY, The Theatre at Washington, VA, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Park rangers told us that our tour reached over 2,000 people in and around the parks! 

In addition to our concerts, we made field recordings 30 stories underground in Mammoth Cave, on top of Purchase Knob in the Smoky Mountains, and at Big Meadows along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah.

We had a fantastic time celebrating the National Park Service centennial by sharing our music with park-going audiences and performing in scenic and inspiring locations throughout the southeast. Scroll down below for more posts with photos and videos from each of our southeast performances, and keep your eyes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for lots more great footage.

New York Times - Travel Shout Out

Thanks for the mention, The New York Times - Travel! We're excited to continue our National Park Service centennial celebration in Washington state in August!

You can see us in print on page 3 of today's New York Times - Travel section.

Click here to access the article and learn about other centennial celebrations!

Thanks, University of Rochester!

Check it out: thanks University of Rochester for this great feature on Music in the American Wild!

Click here to access the article.

Shenandoah: Big Meadows Recording Session

Here are some pictures from recording in beautiful Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park. We were recording a piece written by Chris Chandler about this place!

Check out a movement that we recorded in the meadow about Skyline Drive. Can you hear the cars driving up and down through the park?

Photos by Geoff Sheil.

Washington Post Review

Check out this wonderful Washington Post review of our southeast tour finale at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery!

Click here to read the article.

Here's a photo of the MAW gang!

Photo credit Geoff Sheil.

Purchase Knob Pictures and Concert

Check out some pictures from our performance on Purchase Knob in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Thanks to Ranger Susan Sachs and Emily Jones of the National Parks Conservation Association for hosting us and setting up this special event in such an amazing place!

Photos by Geoff Sheil.