Hawai‘i 2020

The American Wild Ensemble continued its celebration of the great American outdoors with a chamber music commissioning and performance project in Hawai‘i in February 2020. AWE traveled to Oahu and the Big Island of Hawai‘i to perform newly commissioned works by composers Takuma Itoh, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Tonia Ko, and Byron Yasui, all current or former Hawai‘i residents. The central commission of the project, Itoh’s Adaptiation Variations, was inspired by endangered endemic Hawaiian birds and supported by a Classical Commissioning Program Grant from Chamber Music America. Further commissions by Foumai, Yasui, and Ko took inspiration from Hawaiian wildlife, geography, and traditions.

AWE performed these new works in a program that combined music with commentary from the commissioned composers and conservation scientists who provided context for the inspiration behind each piece. The ensemble presented variations on this Hawaiian wildlife-inspired program at a variety of locations, in partnership with educational and cultural institutions, conservation organizations, and outdoor spaces. Partners on Oahu included University of Hawai‘i-Manoa, ‘Iolani School, Punahou School, and Lyon Arboretum. On Hawai‘i Island the ensemble performed at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, helping park visitors make new connections with their environment and continuing our ongoing partnership with the National Park Service.

To read more about our experiences in Hawaii, check out our three-part recap series on our NEWS page!

PERFORMANCES

University of Hawaii-MAnōa

Hawai’i Volcanoes national Park

Waiākea schools visit

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

‘iolani School

Kailua Intermediate school

Punahou School

Lyon Arboretum

Commissioned works

Adaptation Variations + Laysan Dances

Adaptation Variations is a work inspired by the remarkable "adaptive radiation" of the Hawaiian Honeycreepers, in which a single species of bird that first arrived in Hawaii evolved to become 56 distinct species. When talking about evolution, scientists have often used the musical analogy of a "variation of a theme" so I took that somewhat literally and wrote a set of (very loose) variations on a theme. Some of the variations are inspired by some of the notable adaptations: bark-picking insectivores like the ‘akikiki are represented by repeated notes; seed-eaters like the palila by percussive, rhythmic patterns; the nectarivores like the i‘iwi with their long curved beaks through glissandos.

Laysan Dances celebrates the Laysan Albatrosses that nest on the Hawaiian Islands, (mostly on the uninhabited Northwestern Islands). These birds have an odd idiosyncratic mating/courtship dance on land where they bob up and down, honk, and moo vocally, and clap with their beaks. Much of the piece is about this awkward dance, which is what most of us get to see. However, the final section depicts a transformation of these awkward dancers into an elegant glider that soar effortlessly in the air for thousands of miles, where they spend a vast majority of their lives. –Takuma Itoh

This commission has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

E Mālama i ke kai

E Mālama i ke kai, "to care for and protect the ocean," is inspired by the marine ecosystems of the Hawaiian archipelago. Life began in the sea according to the Kumulipo, the ancient Hawaiian creation myth, and so humanity is seen as being tied to all living things, plants, animals, and the environment. The narrative of the work explores themes of the past, present and future for the marine world. Once teaming with creatures of aquatic life, the ocean environment is polluted and life endangered.

Composed for Music in the American Wild, the work is scored for a septet of mixed instruments. While there is no connection to traditional Hawaiian music, I set the phrase “E Mālama i ke kai,” into several melodic phrases that could be used as a refrain. I then removed the words so the instruments could take the melody, leaving a bounty of mantra-like motives from which to work. The work is in three sections beginning with a festive music depicting a lively ocean environment. The second moves towards a more atmospheric and poignant music depicting a threatened marine environment with no life. The final section sees the rehabilitation of the marine world with the music of the beginning returning and the phase refrain repeated in a call to protect the oceans. – Michael-Thomas Foumai

The journey quickens

With each passing year, our journeys quicken – not in a straight line away from our origins, but as a spiraling out, going farther yet always somehow returning. This prelude traces these steps, where percussive and noisy elements accelerate and coalesce into fragments of song. - Tonia Ko

Covers and Uncovers

• ʻōhū/ ʻōhuku/ āhua/ ʻaiō/ ʻakoʻako/ ʻaui/ haʻanopu/ hoʻohua/ kuahaka/ kūhela/ nuʻa/ ōnū/ ʻōpuʻu/ ōpū: Fifteen words of the Hawaiian language used to describe swells, long waves that move along the surface of the sea without breaking

• "A world of grass and flowers stretched around me, rising and falling in gentle undulations, as if an enchanter had struck the ocean swell, and it was at rest forever..." -Eliza Steele, A Summer Journey in the West (1840)

The title of this work refers to the way that landscapes seem to unfold in layers, rolling infinitely to the horizon. My most familiar image of such a wide open vista is the Pacific Ocean, and specifically the experience of floating in the water, far from shore. In that moment, one becomes part of a flat blue expanse that feels ever more still the farther one looks. It is mysterious to me that expanses of land - the very opposite of water - behave in very much the same ways. This past March, I visited the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve outside of Strong City, Kansas, on a particularly windy day. Grass filled every corner of my sight with a homogenous texture, and indeed swayed in continuous waves.

Although my piece is inspired by the largeness of these landscapes, I was interested how one perceives both visual and sonic details of the ocean or prairie. When immersed in such an environment, our focus switches constantly between the micro- and macro- elements. We could be investigating the short sounds of a single twig or ripple, then suddenly notice that they are just granular parts adding up to an engulfing white noise. This piece explores the relationship between the innumerable pointed noises of nature and the expansive sounds of the landscape as a whole.

Cover and Uncovers begins with the sound of loose debris, made by rattling desk bells. The dry, percussive result of this extended technique, paired with woodblocks, gradually transforms into a resonant world of metallic sounds - expressed through freely ringing bells, a cymbal, and in the most elemental form, a long metal tube played with a threaded rod. The instrumental writing negotiates the granular character of the opening sounds with more linear, static gestures that depict large physical distances. Various types of flickering gestures are passed between members of the ensemble, culminating in constantly shifting harmonics of the metal tube. The final "bowed" duet between the percussionist and the cellist is a brief acknowledgement of the fact that whether on wood or metal - (land or water) - nature imitates. – Tonia Ko

Dance of the Goddess (PElehonuamea)

Pelehonuamea (Madame Pele) is the Hawaiian goddess who resides in Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. This work, commissioned in 2019 by Music in the American Wild, reflects the many moods of Pele through a variety of short musical segments that accompany an imaginary dance. The inspiration for this work comes from the composer’s one-month stay in Kilauea volcano in 2016 as composer-in-residence, the result of a grant from the National Parks Arts Foundation. The introduction suggests the break of dawn, when the chirps of the nocturnal coqui (frog) phase out and bird songs phase in. One of the distinctive calls of the apapane (honey creeper), which the composer heard every day of his residency, can be heard in this segment. The bird calls are suddenly interrupted by clarinet and horn (depicting the blowing of two conch shells) alternating with flute (depicting the lonely ‘ohe hano ihu, or Hawaiian nose flute) that signal the imminent arrival of Pele. With a forceful slap of the ipu, or gourd (a Hawaiian percussion implement), everything comes to a halt and Pele has appeared out of nowhere. Actual ipu rhythm patterns associated with hula kahiko (ancient dance) are mixed in with freshly composed patterns as the dance begins. Selected fragments of ancient Hawaiian chant melodies are heard as germinal motives throughout most of the piece. The rising minor third and major second intervals, which are very prevalent in kahiko chant melodies, identify these motives. – Byron Yasui

Hawaii Team

Emlyn Johnson, flute — Ellen Breakfield-Glick, clarinet — Lauren Becker, horn

Hanna Hurwitz, violin — Alexander Peña, viola — Daniel Ketter, cello

Colleen Bernstein, percussion

Jorge Arzac, video

Mahalo nunui

Thank you to all those who supported us with time, donations, equipment, and advice for this project.

Special thanks go to:

-Chamber Music America, for their generous support of Takuma Itoh’s Adaptation Variations, commissioned through their Classic Commissioning Program

-The Aaron Copland Fund for Music

-Shawn Wahl, Julie Combs, and the Missouri State University College of Arts and Letters

-Faculty and staff at University of Hawaii-Manōa, Punahou School, ‘Iolani School, Kailua Intermediate, Waiākea Schools, and Niu Valley Middle School for their enthusiasm, hospitality, and assistance with equipment (extra thank you!)

-Takuma Itoh, for being a tireless advocate for our Hawaii residency

-Brendan Wenzel, for creating beautiful new illustrations for this endeavor (and for all the creative work he does to support wildlife efforts)

-Jorge Arzac, for his beautiful video work that continues to give life to this project!

-Individuals who supported us with donations through Fractured Atlas and independently