yMusic Performs a World Premiere by Gabriella Smith

Praised by NPR Music as “…deeply, profoundly skilled,” yMusic continues its long collaborative relationship with composer Gabriella Smith with the world premiere of an ambitious new work co-commissioned by Cal Performances. A composer with an ecologist’s soul, Berkeley native Smith traveled the world recording underwater environments, from coral reefs to tidepools, freshwater marshes to the open ocean, to create her latest work for the adventurous ensemble. Aquatic Ecology, a blend of acoustic performance with raw and processed field recordings, is Smith’s invitation to the listener to commune and connect with the fragile beauty of the natural world threatened by climate change. “Magnificent and mind-blowingly original…her [music] speaks for itself—eloquently, ferociously and with a palette of instrumental sounds that land as both familiar and strikingly new” (San Francisco Chronicle).

Commissioning support is provided, in part, by New Music USA’s Organization Fund.