for flute, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello, doublebass
commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Ensemble Connect
premiered by Ensemble Connect at Skidmore College 02/16/2024
note | seven sisters paint the earth is inspired by the relationship of rains and the harvest between Andean peoples and the star cluster, the Pleiades. Andean farmers gather each year in late June to forecast the rainfall of the coming season, reading the brightness and clarity of the sisters in the pre-dawn sky. From these readings, farmers know whether to plant their crops sooner or to wait later in the year. These traditional forms of forecasting have been confirmed as having scientific basis, as they respond to the years of drought caused by the atmospheric changes of El Niño. seven sisters paint the earth reflects these relationships between earth and the heavens through the seven players of Ensemble Connect and their chosen pathways in its many changing techniques and constellations of musical notation. By celebrating and bringing closer Indigenous knowledge, we open ourselves to seeing the wisdom imparted by the patterns of our own everyday lives and world.
