Lungs of the City:
Olmsted’s Parks in Music

In 2022 American Wild Ensemble was thrilled to collaborate with Landscape Music, Juventas New Music Ensemble, and Michigan Technological University Department of Visual and Performing Arts to present a new program commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted. Known as the grandfather of American landscape architecture and the designer of world-famous sites from New York City’s Central Park to the grounds of the Biltmore Estate, Olmsted’s living legacy is found in landscapes across the country and beyond.

Lungs of the City: Olmsted’s Parks in Music featured new works by Oliver Caplan, Nell Shaw Cohen, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Libby Meyer, Ayumi Okada, Justin Ralls, Christina Rusnak, and Ryan Suleiman, all members of Landscape Music, a network of composers and performers whose music engages with landscape, nature, and place.

These eight musical responses to notable designs by Olmsted and his sons’ firm, Olmsted Brothers, took audiences on an imaginative journey from New England to the Pacific Northwest. Locations to be highlighted include New York City’s Central Park, Prospect Park, and Fort Tryon Park; Boston’s Emerald Necklace and Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site; Atlanta’s Olmsted Linear Park; Detroit’s Bell Isle Park; Portland’s Forest Park; and Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park.

Lungs of the City was a Celebration Partner of Olmsted 200, the nationwide Olmsted bicentennial celebration led by the National Association of Olmsted Parks.

american wild ensemble performances

The Dongan Lawn at Fort Tryon Park
New York, NY

The Boathouse at Prospect Park
New York, NY

City College of New York
New York, NY

Highland Park Bowl
Rochester, NY

commissioned Composers

Olmstead Team

Emlyn Johnson, flute — Ellen Breakfield-Glick, clarinet — Joel Ockerman, horn
Lauren Cauley, violin — Molly McDonald, violin — Molly Goldman, viola — Daniel Ketter, cello
Colleen Bernstein, percussion

Partners