Every summer, Asia Society welcomes a cohort of interns across our departments. Urged to learn into the multi-disciplinary pursuits or the organization and to take on hands-on learning projects, these interns dive into our work across the arts, policy, education, and more. This year, Asia Society's Communications and Marketing department has welcomed intern Leandra Sze to build a series of first-hand, experiential blogs, emails, and social media posts to share her experience and what she sees each week behind the scenes.

Follow along, and don't forget to sign up for our New York emails and follow us on Instagram and TikTok for her insights each week!

On July 18th and 20th, Asia Society is presenting the world premiere of Filipinx composer, percussionist, and sound artist Susie Ibarra’s Sky Islands. Sky Islands is a musical experience inspired by the diverse and isolated ecosystems in the montane rainforests of her home region, Luzon, Philippines. Her work is a call to action on climate change and is presented as part of Asia Society’s COAL + ICE exhibition and program series.

In preparation for Ibarra’s premiere, I picked up her book, Rhythm in Nature, where Ibarra guides readers through her sonic study of natural rhythms by listening to and recording the sounds of glaciers, oceans, trees, birds, and more. Inspired by these various habitats, Ibarra intersects science and observation with music. Ibarra stresses the danger of being wrapped up in our human culture, and I imagine Sky Islands will be a piece to bring listeners back to nature through immersive music.

Ibarra’s experience is primarily with water. By traveling to so many places and being consumed with the traditional and contemporary musical cultures of these regions, she has also been listening to the sounds of their waters. In her book, she writes, “Only years later when I recorded and transcribed water rhythms did I realize on another level how our human bodies which are made up of 60% water, hold the cultures of these waters too.”

Ibarra writes about her project with climate scientist Dr. Michele Koppes where they mapped the sound of the changes in water systems and glaciers. Ibarra was surprised to discover that the BPM (beats per minute) of these rhythms resembled BPMs from popular music from all over the world. The recordings themselves had precise rhythms that could be easily translated into music. However, mapping the sound of glaciers from their source, in the mountain range, to sink, out to the sea or ocean, was atemporal and nonlinear. Ibarra explains that due to climate change, the sonic mapping of land and water is sporadic and never as straightforward as “source to sink.” By drawing her inspiration from water, Ibarra opens new possibilities for listening to music, encouraging us to listen in a nonlinear format where, like water, these sounds exist at different and new moments in time.

Due to their high altitudes, the Sky Islands are physically isolated. As a result, their music culture is different from that of lower lands, rivers, and seas. However, they still exist in a similar sporadic nature to water. The mountain rainforest regions have gradients in temperature and rainforest which leads to the diversification of nature, animals, and rhythms and sounds. Some say that evolution has even sped up in these areas because some native species do not exist anywhere else.

Ibarra’s piece reflects the enchanting and otherworldly nature of the Sky Islands. In late May at Asia Society, Susie Ibarra and her seven-piece accompanying music ensemble performed an excerpt at an open rehearsal. The flute, violin, cello, drums, and instruments specific to the Philippines such as the Gansa (gong), Kulitong (bamboo zither), and the Tongatong (bamboo percussion) projected a harmonious blend of diverse sounds. Despite hearing these traditional Philippine instruments for the first time, I felt a sense of familiarity with their beats. Perhaps it was a result of transcribing natural sounds into music. At the same time, the variations in tempos and sounds kept me guessing about what would come next, and I am excited to hear what the rest of her piece has to offer.

Susie Ibarra concluded her book Rhythm in Nature by writing, “When I stepped out to record and listen I heard an ancestral homage not just to my family but to water and landscapes inside us.” I can imagine most of us have never visited the Sky Islands before, but Ibarra presents a type of music that can mean something for everyone. Alongside Asia Society’s COAL + ICE exhibition, her work seeks to remind humans of the nature and landscapes important to us. At higher altitudes in Sky Islands, warming is faster and these ecosystems are particularly under threat with additional mining and deforestation. Susie Ibarra’s work shows that we are not separate from these landscapes. Their rhythms and sounds are part of each and every one of us.

Don’t miss the world premiere of Susie Ibarra’s Sky Islands. Get tickets for the July 18 performance here and the July 20 performance here.