Root Song: Listening to the Wisdom of Trees

Jazimina Creamer-MacNeil is a director, creative producer, singing actor, educator, and wild blueberry picker rooted in the beautiful and artistically fertile Monadnock region of New Hampshire, the ancestral homelands of the Wabanaki. Her work focuses on how live performance can be a stitch in the great reweaving of humanity back into reciprocal kinship with the rest of life on this good, green Earth. Jazimina has conceived, directed, and performed in a number of interdisciplinary works which explore the intersection of music, storytelling, and the natural world: Danika the Rose, an interplay of Dvorak’s sublime Moravian Duets with an original eco-fairytale written by Jazimina in collaboration with master storyteller Odds Bodkin, and an orchestral version of this project, Love Like Water, produced in collaboration with conductor Eric Jacobsen and composer Lembit Beecher. In collaboration with the Harris Center for Conservation Education and Electric Earth Concerts, Jazimina created two site-specific musical hikes: The Singing Stream, which sets Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin alongside a real-life mill stream, and In Fine Feather, which invites walkers into a world of music and poetry inspired by birdsong, accompanied by the sights and sounds of the birds themselves. She has also collaborated with the DreamYard Project and Brooklyn Art Song Society to create Frozen Tears, a concert of artwork and spoken word inspired by the alienation in Schubert’s Winterreise as it resonates with young artivists from the South Bronx. Currently in development is Root Song, a collaboration with Grammy-award winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth which interweaves live vocal chamber music and storytelling to create an embodied experience of listening to the wisdom of trees. Inspired by recent scientific inquiries into plant sentience and mycorrhizal networks, whose findings resonate with Traditional Ecological Knowledge acquired by Indigenous cultures over millennia, Root Song asks the question: how can the deep listening of a musical and storytelling experience invite us to once again hear the voices of the more-than-human world, starting with trees? Jazimina is a company member of the award-winning Firelight Theatre Workshop, with whom she regularly performs and devises immersive, experimental, and community-based works. She also spends her time conducting worm races and acorn forensics as a teacher-naturalist at the Harris Center for Education Conservation, as well as concocting interdisciplinary musical experiences for Electric Earth Concert’s outreach series, Musical Pathways. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Manhattan School of Music, Jazimina spent glorious summers singing and studying at Marlboro Music, the Tanglewood Music Center, Ravinia, the Aspen Music Festival, SongFest and the Schubert Institute.

Roomful of Teeth is a Grammy-winning vocal band dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice. By engaging collaboratively with artists, thinkers, and community leaders from around the world, the group seeks to uplift and amplify voices old and new while creating and performing meaningful and adventurous music.

Founded in 2009 by Brad Wells, the band was incubated at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, Massachusetts, where members studied with some of the world’s most extraordinary singers and teachers. Through experimentation, exploration, and plenty of failures, the group learned that the boundaries of the human voice are never what they seem, that rules can be bent, even broken, and perhaps they should be.

Through their unique collaborative process, Roomful of Teeth has worked with many of today’s most compelling musical creators to build a significant and continuously growing repertoire. They have collaborated with a wide range of artists and ensembles spanning genres and art forms.

As the world rapidly changes, Roomful of Teeth is cultivating deeper relationships with technology, continuing to explore and expand the artistic reach of the human voice. They are excited about new collaborative projects focused on stories of place, home, and community in diverse environments around the world. They explore, learn, and collaborate with passionate curiosity, contagious enthusiasm, and deep gratitude.

“We Indigenous people grow up hearing stories all the time. But we don't call them stories, legends or myths. To us, they are lessons, because they explain the universe and how things came to be.” Tchin (pronounced ‘chin) spent his early life in Virginia and Rhode Island. He moved to New York City by himself at 15 and traded work for food while also exploring his creativity. In his 20s, he attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Brown University, and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), and earned his BFA while raising young children. As Tchin was building his career as a metalsmith, he also honed his Indigenous storytelling and fluteplaying talents. For decades, Tchin has been sharing his programs at hundreds of institutions, from schools and universities to prestigious museums like the Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, and The Penn Museum. Tchin learned many of his lessons from his elder Princess Red Wing, a beloved Narragansett storyteller. He’s also been gifted many lessons from other Indigenous storytellers, elders, and culture bearers. He’s expanded his knowledge by studying ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythologies. “You get to understand people more clearly - how the universe makes sense to them. It allows you to understand your universe that much better." Beyond storytelling, Tchin teaches metalsmithing, pursues many artistic interests, and enjoys time with his wife, 4 daughters, and 10 grandchildren. You can find his jewelry on seedsartmarket.org and learn more about his programs at themagicofstorytelling.com.

Christopher Theofanidis’ music has been performed by many of the world’s leading performing arts organizations, from the London Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic to the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the American Ballet Theatre. He is a two-time Grammy nominee for best composition, and his Viola Concerto, recorded with David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony with Richard O’Neill soloist, won the 2021 Grammy for Best Instrumental Solo. Mr. Theofanidis’ work, Rainbow Body, is one of the most performed works in recent decades, having been performed by over 200 orchestras worldwide. Mr. Theofanidis is currently coordinator of the composition programs at Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival, and has taught at the Juilliard School and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.  

Melissa Studdard is the author of five books, including the poetry collections Dear Selection Committee and I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast, the poetry chapbook Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings, and the young adult novel Six Weeks to Yehidah. Her work has been featured by NPR, PBS, The New York Times, The Guardian, Ms. Magazine, Best American Poetry, and Houston Matters, and has also appeared in a wide variety of periodicals, such as POETRY, Kenyon Review, Psychology Today, New Ohio Review, Harvard Review, New England Review, and Poets & Writers. As a librettist/lyricist, she has had works commissioned by Aspen Music Festival, Yale University Glee Club and Yale Choral Artists, Wolf Trap, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Nicolò Spera, the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, and Art Philly, and her pieces have been performed by Exigence Vocal Ensemble, The Washington Chorus, University of Michigan Chamber Choir, Ars Nova Singers, The Argus String Quartet, Electric Earth, and Ciompi Quartet. Her book awards include the Forward National Literature Award, the International Book Award, the Kathak Literary Award, the Poiesis Award of Honor International, the Readers’ Favorite Award, and two Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards. As well, her works have been listed in Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts’ Best Books of the Year, January Magazine’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bustle’s “8 Feminist Poems To Inspire You When The World Is Just Too Much,” and Amazon’s Top New Releases and Most Gifted Books.

Brett Ashley Robinson is a Barrymore Award winning devisor and theatre maker based in Philadelphia. She was a two time nominee for the Golden Tassel Jawn, Philadelphia ’s Drag and Burlesque awards, for best comedy act as Patricia! She was a collaborator and performer in Lightning Rod Specials The Appointment at New York Theatre Workshop, which was a New York Times Critics Pick and voted best play of 2019 in The New York Times, Vulture Magazine, Time Out New York, and New York Magazine. As an actor and devisor she has worked at, The Public, Ars Nova Ant Fest, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Wilma, Lightning Rod Special, Pig Iron Theater Company, The Arden Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, The Flea Theatre, Theatre Horizon, and Geva Theatre. As Patrica! She has worked with 1812 Productions, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Lightning Rod Special, and Agitated! She teaches acting at the University of the Arts, she is a company member of Applied Mechanics and a member of the HotHouse–the Wilma Theater’s resident acting company.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Bud Finds Her Gift, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.

Suzanne Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and the author of the book, Finding the Mother Tree. She is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; and has been hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in a way that is dazzling and profound. Her work has influenced filmmakers (the Tree of Souls in James Cameron’s Avatar) and her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. Suzanne is known for her work on how trees interact and communicate using below-ground fungal networks, which has led to the recognition that forests have hub trees, or Mother Trees, which are large, highly connected trees that play an important role in the flow of information and resources in a forest. Her current research investigates how these complex relationships contribute to forest resiliency, adaptability and recovery and has far-reaching implications for how to manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change. Suzanne has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and presented at conferences around the world. She has communicated her work to a wide audience through interviews, documentary films and her TEDTalk “How trees talk to one another”.

Adam Waterbear DePaul is a Chief of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, where he serves as Tribal Storykeeper and Director of Education. He collaborates with academic institutions, filmmakers, authors, and others on authentic inclusion of Lenape culture. He is a PhD candidate at Temple University, teaches courses in Indigenous Studies and Global Mythology, curates the Lenape Cultural Center in Easton PA and multiple Lenape exhibits, and founded the annual conference Homecoming: The Lenape Speak. Chief Adam has given over 200 presentations on Lenape topics and has been awarded two scholar residencies and the 26^th Annual Germantown Mennonite Peace Award for commitment to education and indigenous advocacy.

Clan Mother Shelley DePaul has served on the Council of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania since 2002 as Genealogical and Historical Researcher, Lenape Language Specialist, and Educator. She teaches Lenape Language classes and workshops and has presented lectures and educational programs on Lenape History and Culture to schools and universities, environmental organizations, churches, historical societies, and youth groups. Shelley was co-curator of the exhibit, "Fulfilling a Prophesy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania" at the University of Pennsylvania Musem. She is also curator of the Lenape Exhibit at the Sigal Museum in Easton. Both exhibits relate long-hidden story of the survival of the Lenape in their homelands and feature never before displayed objects from the private collections of Lenape people in Pennsylvania. She has conferred with numerous organizations regarding Lenape horticulture and medicinal plant practices and has published three books on Lenape Language and Lenape Ethnobotany. She is a Pennsylvania State Certified teacher with an MA in History.