Honeybee | Black Moon Trio

Black Moon Trio is excited to collaborate with author Candace Fleming, illustrator Eric Rohmann, and Brushwood Center to create a unique and educational experience for young audiences that blends music, storytelling, and nature. Guided by Fleming and Rohmann’s acclaimed 2020 book Honeybee, this program offers an engaging exploration of one of the most fascinating migratory species found in the Lake County and Chicagoland area: the honeybee, Apis mellifera. This program is designed to teach children and families about the crucial role bees play in local ecosystems, using a combination of music, storytelling, and hands-on learning to bring the story of these busy pollinators to life.

In addition to the music and storytelling, Honeybee incorporates scientific learning goals and vocabulary that will be expanded upon during the interactive moments of the program. Black Moon Trio, along with staff from Brushwood Center, will guide children and adults through these educational elements, providing opportunities for hands-on activities that bring the book’s lessons to life. These activities include examining learning about pollination, local pollinating species, and understanding the delicate balance of the ecosystems that depend on these pollinators. Through these engaging and interactive moments, children will have the chance to connect with the natural world in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Download Program Notes

program

30 minutes (50 minutes with activities)

Eric Ewazen: ...to cast a shadow again

arranged by Black Moon Trio

III. Two Bees

David Riniker: Velvet Valves

I. Melodia (Pytor Illych Tchaikovsky)

III. Humoreske (Antonín Dvořák)

V. Claire de lune (Claude Debussy)

VI. L'abeille (François Schubert)

Charles Koechlin: Quatre petites pièces, Op. 32

II. Très modéré

III. Allegretto quasi Andantino

IV. Scherzando

collaborators

Candace Fleming

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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Eric Rohmann

Eric Rohmann believes that each story needs illustrations that match its tone, content, and sensibility. As a children’s book illustrator, this means knowing how and when to use different media and techniques. For The Cinder-Eyed Cats Rohmann painted with oils. For his Caldecott Medal book, My Friend Rabbit, he used wood cuts. For his 2008 picture book, A Kitten’s Tale, Rohmann spent two months experimenting with a watercolor ink he had never used before. Trying new media can be scary, Rohmann admits, but it also keeps his artwork fresh. “Anxiety’s a good thing,” he says with a smile, “even for a children’s book illustrator.”

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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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