creek*

*Deborah Carruthers, Composer –
My current preoccupations are the rate of change in the environment and the solastalgia it engenders. Solastalgia – the distress that is experienced when our environment changes, but we are unable to leave – is experienced not only by humans, but also by the more-than-human. My scores often arise from questions of agency: in the case of creek*, how has Schneider Creek acted and reacted in response to its environment, and how did the creek record and communicate its agency? This is the primary story of creek*. All of the human histories that surround it are merely the footnotes (*) reflecting our concerns and our stories.
The graphic score and accompanying text is meant to let creek tell its story for itself; the score functions as a series of prompts, a structured improvisation, within which the musicians seek ways to voice the creek’s narrative.
That profound environmental changes occur over time is not in question. However, the increasingly accelerated rates of change point to an environment whose balance has shifted towards an inevitably catastrophic decline if left unchecked. creek* asks: how can we prompt a deeper understanding of the intricate relationships in the environment, and what could that understanding contribute to meaningful discussions (and actions) around rapid environmental change?
It is my hope that creek* functions as a new type of opportunity or framework for structured collaborations between beings with differing backgrounds and philosophies…