On the mountaintops of Luzon, Philippines are a collection of unique, high-altitude rainforest ecosystems called “sky islands.” These isolated habitats foster rare and diverse species, making them critical yet vulnerable natural environments that are highly susceptible to climatic changes. Drawing inspiration from the natural phenomena of her home region, composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra created Sky Islands, an evening-length work for chamber ensemble and lush-looking plant sculptures, which premiered July 18 at Manhattan’s Asia Society.
Ibarra’s collaborative work brings these fragile rainforests to life through a blend of traditional and contemporary musical elements, creating an immersive experience that resonates deeply with environmental themes. The concert was presented as an associated event with COAL + ICE, an exhibition of photography and videography at the Asia Society Museum that aims to visualise the climate crisis.
The performance featured an eight-piece ensemble: flautist (and new music luminary) Claire Chase, pianist Alex Peh, Bergamot Quartet, and percussionists Levy Lorenzo and Ibarra herself, who opened the concert drawing resonant clunks from thick, eight-foot-long bamboo poles that they held over the edge of the stage. Flute and piano added a jauntiness to the bamboo rhythms, and the string quartet ricocheted their bows over their instruments, building a feathery, foresty sound world. Ibarra and Lorenzo exchanged their bamboo poles for oil drums; as proto steel pans, the sound was all the more juicy for not being equal temperament.
Susie Ibarra and Levy Lorenzo in performing “Sky Islands” — Photo by Elena Olivo / Asia Society
The first part of Sky Islands moved quickly from moment to moment. Ibarra and Lorenzo broke out brushes, and Ibarra laid down some sensuous jazz rhythms on drum set while Lorenzo riffed on gongs and Peh coloured the music with Debussian harmonies. The impressionist vibe dissipated into an improvisatory section with tremolo flute and plucked string figures that blended strikingly well with gamelan bonang instruments, tiny bells, a mouth harp, and finger cymbals.
An extended duet between the percussionists followed. Sometimes meandering and often mesmerising, the sound environment shifted physically from water and lush vegetation into vertiginous air. Chase produced “bamboo tones” with alternate fingerings on the bass flute, the literal airiness of which matched the sound of the string quartet’s circular bowing, a technique that produces a soft, ethereal noise, interspersed with tiny pitches peeking out from the hush. Peh’s prodigious playing became impossibly delicate and harp-like, and the percussionists’ sparse triangle playing and soft hand drumming rounded out a gorgeous soundscape that slowly crescendoed back into a pulsating rhythmic section.
There were unfortunately some amplification problems with the balance of the strings and piano against the rest of the ensemble during this climactic material; the string quartet became almost inaudible, and Peh’s athletic playing was difficult to hear; his hands looked to be moving in parallel and in set positions, almost as a marimba player’s would. Ibarra played an impressive drum set solo, and not for the first time, several concertgoers (read: my concert buddy and I) wanted to clap, but bowed to Wagner’s militant no-applause etiquette.
Levy Lorenzo and Bergamot Quartet perform Susie Ibarra’s “Sky Islands” — Photo by Elena Olivo / Asia Society
Chase took a seat in the centre of the stage on a floor cushion and performed a solo on bass flute accompanied by miniature bells, and Ibarra’s “Floating Gardens” sound sculptures became part of the texture, generating an electronic plucking sound when touched. One of the sculptures seemed to suffer a technical issue and wasn’t audible, but the sound of the Garden played by Ibarra was elevated through threatening snarls from the bass flute, fragile tremolo and pizzicato from Bergamot, the odd resonances of the extreme high and low registers of the piano, and repeating rhythmic patterns on the oil drums.
The ensemble concluded the performance in a procession that made its way around the seated audience before ending up in front of the stage. Ibarra’s ability to translate the natural beauty and fragility of the sky islands into a musical form was both impressive and inspiring, and audience members (read: not just me and my concert buddy) were visibly moved by the performance – the sweep of the work and the ensemble’s masterful execution created an evocative and immersive experience.
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