SEQUOIA STANDING
BY ECOLOGY ENSEMBLE
(2020)
Sequoia Standing was created to help save a tree named Mother Sequoia. She stood over 100 feet tall with a 9' diameter, and had lived for over 100 years in NE Portland.
featuring
Dana Reason (OR), Anthony Brisson (MN), Allan Wilson (OR), Paris Myers (MA), Zanny Geffel (OR), Larissa Conforto (BR), Lumanzin (BR), Shahzad Ismaily (NY), Susan Lucia (CO), Jonathan Sielaff (OR), Machado Mijiga (OR), Mike Gamble (OR), Lisa Schonberg (NY), and a reading of electrical energy from Mother Sequoia.
Mother Sequoia's story:
The city of Portland had mandated the removal of this healthy tree based on a dispute concerning the property where Mother Sequoia laid her roots.
In 20201, the land-owners were working with the city council to resolve things.
In the midst of this, she was poisoned by a human citizen of Portland, succumbed to illness, and was logged in 2022.
If she had not been cut down, Mother Sequoia could have remained part of the urban tree canopy for over a thousand years. In that time she would have developed ecological relationships with countless other species, and share her welcoming energy with so many humans.
For more information about Mother Sequoia’s story visit www.sequoiastanding.org
Brisson and Schonberg recorded Mother Sequoia’s electrical energy at sunrise in May 2020 with a MIDI Sprout.
12 musicians individually responded to this translation of the tree's energy.
The resulting 4-movement audio-visual work is an arrangment of these collected responses and the synthesized sound of Mother Sequoia.
Creative Direction: Lisa Schonberg, Mike Gamble, Anthony Brisson
Video editing & processing: Mike Gamble
Mixing: Anthony Brisson
Presented by Asis Productions, Figure 8 Recording & Boxwood Labs LLC Recording
Ecology Ensemble members each composed and recorded their respective audio and video during the period of Covid isolation in spring 2020.
You can buy the recording of this work here.
Proceeds from sales of this work benefit OPAL.