NATIONALSAWDUST+ PRESENTS INSECTUM FEATURING SUSIE IBARRA, JEFFREY ZEIGLER, GRAHAM REYNOLDS, AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST JESSICA WARE

Don't miss a zany evening devoted to INSECTUM, a sonic exploration of the world of arthropods. The fascinating program takes its name from the forthcoming record release featuring composer-musicians Susie Ibarra, Jeffrey Zeigler, and Graham Reynolds, who worked closely with University of Texas at Austin entomologists to create their album showcasing original tunes such as “Mosquito” and “Melolonthinae Larvae.” American Museum of Natural History evolutionary biologist Jessica Ware shares research that unravels the evolutionary history of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata), termites, and cockroaches (Blattodea) in this event, hosted by NationalSawdust+ curator Elena Park. INSECTUM will be both a celebration of the most successful and longest existing multicellular group of animals on the planet, as well as a cautionary tale about how their current threatened status poses dangers for the entire global ecosystem.

Part of NS+’s continuing For Nature series, INSECTUM kicks off three programs exploring the interplay and collision between the natural and human worlds, featuring artists and musicians, scientists, and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. For Nature is made possible by the generous support of Kathryn and Emmanuel Morlet and the Westcustogo Foundation.

INSECTUM commissioned by Golden Hornet
Co-Commissioned by Kathleen and Harvey Guion & The Guion Family Fund
Co-Commissioned by Suzanne Deal Booth & The Suzanne Deal Booth Cultural Trust
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts

Presented in partnership with the Asia Society and its initiative, Coal + Ice: Inspiring Climate Action Through Art and Ideas.

Insectum was created in consultation with Alex Wild and Jo-anne Holley at University of Texas at Austin. Insect images displayed are courtesy of Alex Wild. 

About NationalSawdust+ 

Often topical and always imaginative, NationalSawdust+ is a lively performance and conversation series in which artists and thinkers share their passion for music and explore timely ideas, making surprising connections. Since National Sawdust’s inception, NS+ has been a home for intimate stories and unexpected artmaking, blurring boundaries between genres and disciplines. Last season's For Nature programs included works connected to ocean, land, and the animal kingdom; native and indigenous wisdom; and recent research and ways forward.

Curated by Elena Park, NS+ taps luminaries from theater, film and visual art, literature, science and beyond, to create insightful programs that reflect their own interests. Guests have included Jad Abumrad, Ava DuVernay, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Min-Jin Lee, Yo-Yo Ma, Nico Muhly, Carl Hancock Rux, Gabriella Smith, Patti Smith, esperanza spalding, Carrie Mae Weems, Marina Abramovic + Laurie Anderson, and Caroline Shaw + Anthony Roth Costanzo + Gandini Juggling. Jeff Tang is consulting producer for the series.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Susie Ibarra

Susie Ibarra is a Pilipina-American composer, percussionist and sound artist whose artistic practice combines being on field, in performance, in studio and supporting conservation of traditional heritages and environments.She has recorded over 40 albums as a composer and drummer and performed in events such as the London Olympics, Rio Olympics, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall, MASSMoCA, Anthony Davies Hall, Sharjah Art Biennial UAE, Zamane Music Festival Morocco, and many more.

‍Jeffrey Zeigler

Jeffrey Zeigler has released dozens of albums on Nonesuch Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Cantaloupe, and Smithsonian Folkways and has appeared with Norah Jones on her album Not Too Late on Blue Note Records. While serving as the cellist of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet for eight seasons, he was the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from the Grammys, and The Asia Society's Cultural Achievement Award. Jeffrey was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Chamber Music and Innovation at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

‍Graham Reynolds

Called “the quintessential modern composer” by the ​London Independent​, Austin-based composer-bandleader-improviser Graham Reynolds records and performs music for film, theater, dance, rock clubs, and concert halls. He recently scored Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Annapurna Pictures) with Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, and Laurence Fishburne, Happy Jail (Netflix), Stop Hitting Yourself (Lincoln Center Theater), Out of Her Mind (BBC), Grimm Tales (Ballet Austin), and a multi-year commission from Ballroom Marfa, The Marfa Triptych, culminating in his Creative Capital Award-winning project Pancho Villa from a Safe Distance. Amidst his many other projects, Graham also serves as the Artistic Director of the new music focused non-profit Golden Hornet. In 2020, Graham signed with London-based record label Fire Records and released his original score for Alfred Hitchcock’s silent classic, The Lodger, with a forthcoming album of original material in 2024.

Jessica Ware

Dr. Jessica Ware is an evolutionary biologist and an Associate Curator and the current Division Chair in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. Her research focuses on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Dictyoptera (termites, cockroaches and mantises). Her research group focuses on phylogenetics/phylogenomics and uses these tools to inform their work on reproductive, social and flight behaviors in insects.

Jessica holds a BSc from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a PhD from Rutgers, New Brunswick. She was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at the AMNH 2008-2010, before being hired at Rutgers Newark where she was an associate professor of evolutionary biology. She is the current president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association, and serves as an elected board member on the executive committee of the Entomological Society of America Governing Board. She was recently awarded a PECASE medal from the US government for her work on insect evolution.

Elena Park

Director, producer, and NationalSawdust+ curator Elena Park has moved freely through the worlds of arts, culture, and media throughout her colorful career. Last spring, she conceived and directed Visual Cavafy, a series of visual poems screened at the New Museum as part of the Onassis Foundation's Cavafy Festival, showcasing the talents of Taylor Mac, Julianne Moore, Caroline Shaw, and Carl Hancock Rux with Daniel Bernard Roumain, Bora Yoon, and Jeffrey Zeigler, among others.

Elena’s director/executive producer credits include eight In Song video portraits for San Francisco Opera, featuring Pretty Yende and Jamie Barton; Cleveland Orchestra’s In Focus performances ranging from Mozart to Debussy to Unsuk Chin, conducted by Alan Gilbert and Jane Glover; Vân-Ánh Võ for Stanford Live; and Jake Heggie's Intonations for the Cabrillo Festival. For the Metropolitan Opera, she is Executive Producer of the Saturday radio broadcasts and was Supervising Producer for the first 140 shows in its worldwide Live in HD series.

The daughter of Korean immigrants, Elena founded Lumahai Productions, an independent consulting and production company, to embrace opportunities for artistic collaboration and social change with artists, thinkers, and communities as well as institutions, large and small. Selected roles: Curator for San Francisco Opera's INSTIGATORS; Supervising Producer for San Francisco Symphony's MTT25: An American Icon; Special Advisor for …(Iphigenia); Artistic Consultant for the Kennedy Center; Executive Producer for WNYC Radio; and Strategic Advisor for Cambodian Living Arts, Meyer Sound, and San Francisco Opera. TV/film credits: Bel Canto, Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle.