THE rivers are our brothers

Commissioned by Musica Sierra, and created in partnership with learning landscapes, an educational program of the feather river land trusT

The Rivers are our Brothers is a song cycle on ecological responsibility told from the point of view of the land. The songs in the cycle take a first-person view of nature, ascribing human qualities and feelings to elements of the landscape: water, trees, mountains, rivers, etc.

Connery tours Rivers as an electro-acoustic duo with Felix Fan (electric cello) to sites including recent visits to Caramoor (Upstate NY), Chatter (ABQ), Gather (NYC), and 5 jazz clubs in Italy. The cycle is also on tour with Grammy-winning choir Chanticleer in an arrangement for 12-part male choir.

"The goal is to give nature a voice —to allow these vibrant things to speak on their own behalf,” says connery.

She adds, "The choice to use a vocal synthesizer might seem like a strange choice in a series of songs about nature. But electronics don’t sound quite human, so they allow me to channel these otherworldly voices in the environment. I can become huge like a rainstorm, or a 1000-year-old tree."

The title of the cycle is based on a quote from the Native American leader, Chief Seattle, who believed we must relate to our environment the way we relate to our closest kin.

The Rivers are our Brothers premiered June 2021 at the Sky Room at the Nevada Museum of Art, with secondary performances in the Sierra Valley at Lost Marbles Ranch, the Sierra River Valley Preserve, and in 17 mini concerts for elementary school classrooms pre-K through 12 with collaborators Edwin Huizinga, and Ben Matus. Since then Rivers has traveled to the Crocker Museum of Art (Sacramento), The Exploratorium (San Francisco), BAMPFA (Berkeley), Chapel of the Chimes (Oakland), Wave Hill Arboretum (Bronx), St. John’s College (Annapolis), and Rowan College (NJ).