Steve Parker was already at work on his Sound Garden project before the pandemic hit earlier this year.
The ever creative composer and sound artist had planned a whole slate of performances, workshops, and interactive installations that amplify the connection between sound and native plants, in some cases literally amplify too.
Specifically, Sound Garden marks an emerging partnership between the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Parker’s Collide Arts, a non-profit organization known for its site-specific performances and installations — events like a concert on the Congress Avenue Bridge that included a live audio feed of the 1.5 million Mexican Free-Tailed bats who live under the bridge, or a performative audiovisual tour that led audiences to the roosting locations of the Great-tailed Grackle.
With Sound Garden, Parker aims to help Wildflower Center visitors to engage with sound and the natural world in new ways, and create a platform for local artists to premiere work that responds to the most diverse collection of native Texas plants.
To that aim there are two outside concert programs planned this month. Both programs are presented as a part of the center’s Tuesday Twilights Series. Tickets may purchased at wildflower.org/event/tuesday-twilights-2/all
“Murmur,” 5-7 p.m., Oct. 20
Four live collaborative dance works shaped by our here and now and reactive to the landscape and flourishing environment of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Short dance works by Alexa Capareda (with multi-instrumentalist Brent Baldwin) Lisa del Rosario-Hueske (with percussionist Adam Bedell), Taryn Lavery (with musician Michael Brown), and Erica Saucedo (with dance artist Bonnie Cox).
Line Upon Line Percussion, 5-7 p.m., Oct. 27
Austin’s favorite percussion trio Line Upon Line performs a program of new music and sound work inspired by native plants and migratory birds.
