Œuvres musicales

Emerald Ash is an ongoing meditation on the fate of the ash trees in Eastern North America, which are being decimated by the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive species of jewel beetle. In Montreal alone, some 40,000 ash trees have or will be culled to reduce the spread of the insect, and it is estimated that most ash trees will not survive, save around 8000 trees in the city that are being spared with the use of a pesticide that must be administered by injection every two years. This devastation came to my attention shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, and I couldn’t help but feel parallels as I reflected on the connections, communications and shared presence that we have with not only animal beings, but also with plants and minerals. I wanted to create from a place of reflection and meditation on what empathy, sympathy, or witnessing the trees, the borers, the parasitic or the symbiotic creatures in this human-induced situation. Like the many layers of this situation and the trees themselves, Emerald Ash is ongoing, transforming with each iteration. The first iteration was a commission by Ensemble Paramirabo for six instrumentalists and multichannel electronics. Sounds from the workshops and premiere performance were included and transformed in an installation version with six illuminated banners, video and surround sound. The banners and video are created from and create parts of the score with which the instrumentalists engage, now and in earlier iterations, creating further layers and transformations in an ongoing process.