ELDERFLORA

the trees are speaking

Elderflora is the story of the life of a tree, told from the tree’s perspective. Told from the perspective of the tree itself, we follow the tree’s journey from birth by fire to death by lightning.

Written by vocalist and composer Majel Connery, Elderflora (“old trees'“) is a 60-minute electro-acoustic song cycle scored for voice, synths and cello. In performance, Connery combines her voice and electronic vocal stylings with the rich, earthy tones of cello (played by Felix Fan).

“I want us to see humanity in a tree,” says Connery. “And to do that, we’ve got to go inside the tree’s own mind. If trees have a voice they’re not going to sound like us. They’re going to sound utterly out of this world.”

Elderflora premiered at Seattle Symphony/Octave9, and toured to Cornish College for the Arts (Seattle), Reed College/3A (Portland), The Exploratorium (San Francisco), The Table (Sacramento), UNM Art Museum/UNM ArtsLAB and DD Ranch (Santa Fe). Next fall 2025 it tours with an expanded ensemble, and includes an optional multimedia installation featuring the images of Noah Kalina.

About the composer:

Majel Connery is a composer, performer, podcaster and musicologist. Her music has been called “superb” by the New York Times and “thoroughly Schubertian” by the Wall Street Journal. Connery has appeared on Radiolab, Kennedy Center Live, and New Sounds radio.

The Rivers are our Brothers, Connery’s song cycle on ecological responsibility, was commissioned by Musica Sierra and toured in 2023-24 with Grammy-winning choir Chanticleer, which recently released its own album of the work. Connery debuted Elderflora at Seattle Symphony/Octave 9 in fall 2024, and toured to Reed College, The Exploratorium and UNM Art Museum.

Connery is the host and producer of A Music of Their Own, an interview podcast on NPR about women in the music industry and Reverberations for New Amsterdam Records. She appears frequently as a solo artist, and with NYC-based art-rock band, Sky Creature.