2020/2021 Season
JULY 2020
ZOE MIKICH, AN EMERGING ARTIST FROM THE EAST COAST, CREATED A MURAL AT THE HARRISON HOUSE ARTS & ECOLOGY CENTER DURING HER TIME SHELTERING-IN-PLACE IN JOSHUA TREE. THE MURAL WAS INSPIRED BY THE CENTER’S GARDENS.
Zoe Mikich studies painting, sculpture and printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design. She spent a year abroad at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paos, Greece studying classical painting. Zoe felt “blessed with the opportunity to feel the power of the desert- space, silence, clarity”.
AUGUST 2020
SARAH CAHILL, PIANIST, PERFORMED A LIVESTREAM CONCERT DURING HER RESIDENCY OF WORKS BY COMPOSERS MAMORU FUJIEDA, Emahoy Tsegué GUÈBROU AND LOU HARRISON INCLUDING THE PREMIERE OF HIS 1943 SERENADE.
Sarah Cahill is a force in American music having premiered and commissioned over sixty new pieces for solo piano including works dedicated to her by John Adams, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Terry Riley, and Julia Wolfe. She has performed both of Lou Harrison’s piano concertos and toured with his solo piano and chamber music, including a 100th birthday celebration in Fukuoka, Japan. Cahill has performed throughout the U.S. and many parts of the world. She is also the host of the weekly radio show Revolutions Per Minute. In 2018, she was named Champion of New Music by the American Composers Forum. In 2021, Sarah Cahill will perform her project, The Future is Female, at the Barbican Centre in London.
October 2020
DR. JUNIPER HARROWER, AN ECOLOGIST AND MULTIMEDIA ARTIST, SHARED EXAMPLES OF HER WORK IN HER ONLINE TALK “BRINGING TOGETHER ART & SCIENCE TO STUDY JOSHUA TREES”, CO-PRESENTED WITH THE NEA BIG READ MORONGO BASIN.
Specializing in species interactions under climate change, Dr. Juniper Harrower works at the intersection of art, ecology, activism and policy. She uses rigorous science methods and a multimedia art practice to investigate human influence on ecological systems while seeking solutions that protect at-risk species. Her research is published in both science and art scholarly journals and has shaped environmental policy. She is a National Science Foundation iCorps Fellow, an Oakland Teaching Fellow, and a Cota-Robles Fellow. Harrower’s work is exhibited locally and internationally in galleries and museums. She is the founder of the environmental arts production company SymbioArtlab.
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2020
KENNEDY VERRETT, COMPOSER, WROTE SECTIONS OF A LARGER WORK CALLED THE EXORCISM OF AMERICA, WHICH PAYS HOMAGE TO THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT AND BROWN AND BLACK ANCESTORS AND ACTIVISTS, SUCH AS HARRIET TUBMAN AND GEORGE FLOYD. THESE COMPOSITIONS THAT USE TANKA, A JAPANESE POETIC FORM, CAN BE INTERPRETED BY VARIOUS INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLES SMALL AND LARGE AND ARE MEANT TO SPARK CONVERSATION THROUGH ART. HE ALSO PERFORMED A LIVESTREAM CONCERT INCLUDING INTERPRETATIONS OF THE ABOVE PIECES ON SOLO PIANO AND AN IMPROVISATION FOR DIDJERIDU AND BELLS.
Kennedy Verrett is a composer whose imaginative works capture beauty, rhythmic energy, and melodic interest. Inspired by composers who have preceded him including Lou Harrison, Julius Eastman, and Harry Partch, Kennedy’s works have been featured in documentaries and films from Furious Beauty (Plixyl Studios) to Drag Me To Hell (Universal). He has performed in ensembles and as a conductor for orchestras.
November 2020
WU MAN, PIPA VIRTUOSO, AND MAILE OKAMURA, DANCER, SHOT A PERFORMANCE FILM ENTITLED BITS AND PIECES, INSPIRED BY LOU HARRISON’S CONCERTO FOR PIPA, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR WU MAN IN 1997. TAPED IN PART AT THE HARRISON HOUSE, COMMISSIONED BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S DEPARTMENT OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AS A COLLABORATION THAT INCLUDED ART OF ELAN AND NY-BASED ORCHESTRA THE KNIGHTS.
Wu Man is a Chinese pipa player and composer known for her broad range of musical styles that has introduced her heritage into Western genres. She has premiered works by Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, Tan Dun, among many others. Wu Man has recorded and appeared on over 40 albums, five of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards. Maile Okamura has been dancing with Mark Morris Dance Group since 1998, while leading a double life as a costume designer having created both dance and opera costumes for Atlanta Ballet, Tanglewood Music Festival, American Classical Orchestra, Bard College, Middlebury College, and Mark Morris Dance Group.
JANUARY 2021 – APRIL 2022
KENNEDY VERRETT, HARRISON HOUSE COMPOSING FELLOW, IS CURRENTLY CREATING A SITE-SPECIFIC SONIC EXPERIENCE IN ASSOCIATION WITH JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK. THE PROCESS OF CREATING THE WORK WILL BE FILMED BY SOLTES FOR AN EVENTUAL DOCUMENTARY.
Kennedy Verrett is an innovative composer/musician/music educator whose compositional vocabulary blends an array of genres and philosophy, creating an authentic musical experience. Kennedy has composed for film and television and has performed with ensembles nationally. As a performer he specialises in piano and an assortment of world music instruments, including didjeridu and duduk and can be heard on various soundtrack recordings.
MARCH 2021
WARREN BRUSH, PERMACULTURE DESIGNER, STORYTELLER AND TEACHER GAVE AN INTRODUCTORY TALK FOLLOWED BY A 2-DAY INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE COURSE AT THE HARRISON HOUSE ART & ECOLOGY SITE. MULTIGENERATIONAL PARTICIPANTS RECEIVED MORNING CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION ON CREATING REGENERATIVE ECOSYSTEMS, LEARNING ABOUT DESIGN METHODOLOGY, URBAN PERMACULTURE, FOLLOWED BY AFTERNOON PRACTICUMS INCLUDING BUILDING A BIOINTENSIVE KITCHEN GARDEN BED AND COMPOSTING.
Warren Brush is a global resilience design consultant, educator, lecturer, and storyteller. He has worked for over 30 years in acroecological education and regenerative system design for communities, organizations, households, farms, and conservation properties worldwide. He is co-founder of Quail Springs Permaculture, Wilderness Youth Project, True Nature Design Consulting and is an advising founder for the Permaculture Research Institute of Kenya.
May 2021
WARREN BRUSH, PERMACULTURE DESIGNER, STORYTELLER AND TEACHER LED A 2-WEEK PERMACULTURE DESIGN CERTIFICATION COURSE. STUDENTS RECEIVED CLASSROOM AND PRACTICUM INSTRUCTION FOCUSED ON DRYLANDS PERMACULTURE BUT ALSO ON THE DESIGN PROCESS & METHODOLOGY OF PERMACULTURE, LIVING SOILS, AGROFORESTRY, WATERSHED RESTORATION, SOCIAL PERMACULTURE, DESERT LANDSCAPES, RAINWATER HARVESTING, GREYWATER SYSTEMS, KITCHEN GARDENS AND EARTHWORKS. STUDENTS SUBMITTED THEIR FINAL DESIGN PROJECTS AND CELEBRATED WITH A CLOSING CIRCLE AND A MEAL.
Warren Brush, lead instructor, is a global resilience design consultant, educator, lecturer, and storyteller. He has worked for over 30 years in acroecological education and regenerative system design for communities, organizations, households, farms, and conservation properties worldwide. He is co-founder of Quail Springs Permaculture, Wilderness Youth Project, True Nature Design Consulting and is an advising founder for the Permaculture Research Institute of Kenya. Additional instructors for the course included experts Lindsay Allen, Tim DeLorey, Nicholas Holmes, Brenton Kelly, Robin Kobaly, Damian Lester, Sasha Rabin, Maya Toccata, Kennedy Verrett, and Mark Wheeler.
JUNE 2021
HIROKO TAMANO, BUTOH MASTER, LED A BUTOH DANCE WORKSHOP BECOMING SNAKE, A METAMORPHIC MOVEMENT EXPERIENCE. BUTOH IS THE POST WORLD WORLD II AVANT-GARDE JAPANESE ‘DANCE OF DARKNESS.’ HIROKO PROVIDED US WITH RARE ACCESS TO ITS ORIGINAL SPIRIT AND METHODOLOGY.
Hiroko Tamano is a master teacher and performer of Butoh having worked closely in Japan, from a young age, with Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of Butoh. In 1979. Hiroko and her husband Koichi, Hijikata’s premiere solo dancer, moved to Berkeley, California and formed Harupin-Ha Company, who have performed in venues around the world.
