PS21 Pavilion Theatre
2980 Route 66
Chatham, NY 12037

TWO Shows: Aug. 21 at 7:30pm and Aug. 22 at 7:30pm

Annea Lockwood, ecofeminist composer of “insatiable curiosity” with “a singular ear for the music of the natural world” and flutist Claire Chase, “the North Star of her instrument’s ever-expanding universe,” (The New York Times) meet Washington’s Elwha River as an equal and able creative collaborator in “Elwha!”

An astoundingly successful 2011-2014 dam removal project on the Lower Elwha led to reforestation and restored populations of nine species of native salmon and trout on the Lower Elwha Klallam people’s land. The Elwha is a model for ecosystem restoration projects—and for resilience, renewal, and rewilding—throughout the world.

“Elwha!” is scored for seven flutes (bamboo water flutes, glissando flutes, piccolos, alto flutes, bass flutes, C flutes, and contrabass flutes), all performed by the brilliant Chase, and multichannel environmental surround sound made from Lockwood’s field recordings of the Elwha River. Chase’s seven flutes respond to the multilayered and kaleidoscopic pitch, rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic material of the Elwha and its many living inhabitants, alternately conversing with, rising above, and being submerged by the wild musics of this iconic, liberated river.