Convergence | Black Moon Trio

Everyone deserves a healthy environment and access to the outdoors.

Research demonstrates that clean air, water, and access to the outdoors are vital to human health. So if nature is a necessity for everyone’s health and well-being, why is it so hard for some people to access it? What are the consequences?

The vital connections between health, equity, and nature are increasingly visible across the United States. Throughout this 90-minute performance, audiences will watch and listen to the lived experiences of members of communities affected by environmental racism and health inequities and their interconnections through music, illustration, and videography.

Convergence: Health Equity in a Changing Climate is a collaboration between Black Moon Trio and Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods and features two commissioned compositions from composers Marc Mellits and Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate as well as original artwork from five visual artists across the country to emphasize the data collected from Brushwood Center’s Health, Equity, and Nature Accelerator Report.

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Program

90 minutes

Eric Ewazen: Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano (2023)

I. Andante teneramente

II. Allegro vivace (Scherzo)

III. Andante grazioso

IV. Maestoso - Allegro energico

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate: Tochchi'na (2016, rev. 2024)

commissioned and premiered by Black Moon Trio

Marc Mellits: Black Moon (2024)

commissioned and premiered by Black Moon Trio

I. New Moon

II. Selene & Cynthia

III. Blue Moon

IV. Eos

V. Supermoon

VI. Dark Moon

VII. Red Moon

Jonathan Leshnoff: Horn Trio (2008)

I. Pensive

TJ Cole: Drifter (2015)

Collaborators

Composer

Marc Mellits

Composer Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a constant mainstay on programs throughout the world. His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. Mellits' music is often described as being visceral, making a deep connection with the audience. “This was music as sensual as it was intelligent; I saw audience members swaying, nodding, making little motions with their hands” (New York Press). He started composing very early, and was writing piano music long before he started formal piano lessons at age 6. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. Mellits often is a miniaturist, composing works that are comprised of short, contrasting movements or sections. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, colorful, and always has a sense of forward motion.

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Composer

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate

Candace Fleming has always been a storyteller. As a preschooler, she told neighbors all about her three-legged cat named Spot, and in kindergarten, she told classmates about the ghost living in her attic. Her parents encouraged these stories, and, once Fleming could write, she filled notebooks with her stories, plays, and poems. As a children’s and young adult author, her fiction titles — books like The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary and Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide! — are known for their lively humor, while her non-fiction titles — Our Eleanor and The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary — are praised for making history come alive for young readers.

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Artist

Natashna Anderson

Natashna Anderson (natashNa A.) is a Designer, Illustrator and Bookmaker. A Brooklyn native, she considers herself a creative in all aspects. Her work constantly reimagines itself as murals, board games, and more recently, as patterns. She received her BFA in Visual Communications at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The city of Chicago is where she currently lives and works. Her work explores and interprets the idea of narrative within black portrayal, typography, and fairytales.

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Artist

Kelley Clink

Kelley Clink is an author, illustrator, artist, and suicide prevention/mental health advocate. Over the years her writing has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, including Gettysburg Review, Colorado Review, Shambhala Sun, Woman's Day, and The Huffington Post. She’s spoken about her lived experience as a suicide attempt and loss survivor to crowds as big as 4,000 and books clubs as small as 6. In 2014, she won the Beacon Street Prize in Nonfiction, and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. In 2015 her memoir, A Different Kind of Same, was published, and was named Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association.

Her artwork has recently appeared in Photo Trouvee Magazine (issues 7 and 10), the Making Space show at the Lill Street Art Center, This is Your Allowance at Positive Space Studios, Tiny Works at the Fulton Street Collective, the 2023 Terrain Biennial, the Angelica Kauffmann Gallery, and more.

She is currently working on a young adult novel and several picture books.

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Artist

Laura Horan

Laura is a freelance illustrator working in the Chicagoland area. She graduated in 2016 from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BFA in Fine Art, and has since been pursuing her passion for vibrant and inventive illustration. Her work is heavily influenced by cartoons, impressionism, and the crazy cast of characters that is her pets. She loves cooking up silly ideas and scenarios, and creating bright and warm illustrations that bring out the childish side in all of us.

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Artist

Lokosh

Lokosh (Joshua D. Hinson) is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

A fluent speaker of the Chickasaw language and an award-winning artist, he holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Abilene Christian University, a master’s degree in Native American Art History from the University of New Mexico, and a PhD in Native Language Revitalization from the University of Oklahoma. He makes art on the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, Ada, Oklahoma.

Hinson, whose Chickasaw name Lokosh translates as “Gourd,” is of the Imatapo

(Their Lean-to People) house group and Kowishto' (Panther) clan.

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Artist

Naimah Thomas

Naimah Thomas is a registered and board-certified art therapist (ATR-BC), and a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Illinois, with a Master of Arts in art therapy. Naimah graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts, with a focus in graphic design.

She is committed to providing a person-centered approach to healing with a focus on intergenerational cultural trauma that acknowledges the multiple systems of oppression and the impact those systems have on our emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Collaborating with people the with hopes of co-creating brave spaces that invite multiple perspectives, active listening, and opportunities for growth and healing to occur. Using art as a means to fostering connections, empower, and amplify their voices, experiences, and expression.

Weaving traditional talk therapy with elements of art therapy and creative expression, all based on what each individual prefers. Art therapy differs greatly from an art lesson and is grounded in the knowledge of human development, psychological theories and counseling techniques. Art therapy can be beneficial for anyone navigating obstacles, who would like to express emotions, improve focus, relaxation, and self-exploration.

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Brushwood Center

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods works collaboratively with community partners, artists, health care providers, and scientists to improve health equity and access to nature in Lake County, Illinois, and the Chicago region. We engage people with the outdoors through the arts, environmental education, and community action. Brushwood Center’s programs focus on youth, families, Military Veterans, and those facing racial and economic injustices.

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