Heat Islands
flutes, clarinet, percussion, harp, piano, violin, cello, amplification
Commissioned by Seattle Modern Orchestra
Heat Islands is both a reflection on and sonification of the loss of tree canopy in urban areas due to human activity and extreme weather events wrought by climate change. Trees keep cities cooler, providing a buffer against the heat by shading the ground and the release of water vapor, which cools the air when it evaporates. When they disappear in some neighborhoods and not others, it is an equity issue—the absence of trees is linked to worse physical and mental health outcomes for communities. Research has found that this absence of tree'd green spaces disproportionately impacts low income populations, and communities of color, as historic and current racist policies have a ripple effect that influences how neighborhoods are changed and maintained. Areas where trees have been removed, such as within or nearby industrial zones, can become “urban heat islands,” with average higher temperatures and greater vulnerability to the impact of heat waves.
I. Forest / City explores a soundscape of creaking and fluttering... leaves, branches, twigs... slowly overtaken by sounds of industry.
II. The Heat sonifies, hour by hour, the record-shattering heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest in late June of 2021. At the peak of the heat wave, temperatures in Portland, Oregon reached 117° F / 47°C.
III. Vigil and Planting captures the dreamlike feeling of playing a decaying piano in the forest during a warm, breezy night, and imagines a community planting the seeds for numerous, future trees.