SEE BUILDING 14 ON CAMPUS MAP FOR LOCATION OF KAUL AUDITORIUM

HANDICAP ACCESSIBILITY FROM 28TH AND BOTSFORD DRIVE

I've wondered a lot about how music and story can place one in resonance with the wild majesty of the planet-- our little blue oasis in a vast cosmos. Music is an ecological language. And wonder tales and myths hold us in right-relation to the world.

Music and wonder tales remind us to celebrate-to pause and embrace the wonder of forest and ocean and our fellow family of beings, whether its in Portland, OR, where I grew up, or in the urban wilds of NYC, where I currently reside.

Music and wonder tales must also address key ideas of our time, in order that we may celebrate properly. Author Daniel Quinn sums up a key idea of our time, which he also calls the most dangerous idea in existence-- the idea that "Humans belong to an order of being that is separate from the rest of the living community."
Quinn states: "… even more than being the most dangerous idea in existence,
it's the most dangerous thing in existence--more dangerous than all our
nuclear armaments, more dangerous than biological warfare, more dangerous
than all the pollutants we pump into the air, the water, and the land."

In other words, when humans decided to unweave themselves from the web of the wild-- to declare ourselves separate from ecology, separate from animals, separate from nature itself --the seeds of our modern planetary crisis were born.

Understanding can thus create proper celebration. And celebrate we must. We are dancing animals. We are laughing, inventive, wildly intelligent, poetic and musical animals. Respecting our home (the planet) and our wild family (humans, animals, trees, all manner of beings) rekindles the deepest magic in us and all the world. It is time to celebrate…

The music and wonder tale presented to the Portland Chamber Orchestra's 60th
anniversary celebration is a portion from Heart of the Wild, an evening-length sonic tapestry (music, story, images) that I have composed, with David Robinson as narrator and story consultant, and additional artwork by Liz Gill Neilson. The story begins:

There is a terrible force devastating the land. As "The Heart Most True," Henry Wild is entrusted with a magical braid that he must deliver safely to the wise woman at the carnival, who will use it to awaken the ancient powers necessary to combat the devastation. If Henry fails all will be lost......

Special thanks to Yaki Bergman, my wife and family, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the majestic forests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest, which I consider my spiritual home. Wishing wildness and wonder to all…