Sky Islands by Susie Ibarra

Asia Society and COAL + ICE present Filipinx composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra’s “Sky Islands,” a musical tribute to our rich and fragile ecosystems inspired by the distinct rainforest habitats of Luzon, Philippines. The piece is composed for Ibarra’s eight-piece music ensemble, including the Extended Filippino Talking Gong Ensemble with Claire Chase on flute, Alex Peh on piano, and Levy Lorenzo and Ibarra on percussion, joined by the four-member Bergamot Quartet comprising violinists Ledah Finck and Sarah Thomas, violist Amy Huimei Tan and cellist Irène Han. The piece features the interlocking rhythms and melodies of Philippine Northern style bamboo, gong, and flute music, performed on new sound sculptures of gong metals titled Floating Gardens. Sky Islands is commissioned by Asia Society, with support from Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, NYSCA, and NYFA Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Artists Grants.

Sky Islands is a musical call to action, drawing awareness to dwindling biodiversity, changing climate and global community practices. This program is part of the COAL + ICE exhibition and series of programs at Asia Society, Feb. 13-Aug. 11, 2024, designed to provoke thought and action on climate change.

About “Sky Islands” - Ecosystem as Musical Inspiration

“Sky islands” are distinct ecosystems at high altitude ranges, known for becoming hotspots for biodiversity and unusual forms of life. Geographically isolated with few or no outside predators, sky islands are home to many species of small mammals that don’t exist anywhere else in the world, making them wondrous areas where we can see evolution “sped up”.

Filipinx composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra was intrigued by the “sky islands” on the mountain tops of rainforests in her home region of Luzon, Philippines, home to the world’s largest number of unique mammal species. In her latest musical work commissioned by Asia Society, Ibarra captures, through sound and sculpture, the beautiful and somewhat magical existence of sky islands.

Sky Islands combines the creation of new gong metal sculptures, which create a physical floating garden series of sounds, with a musical score to float the composition of Sky Islands onto the stage with the performers. The piece is composed for Ibarra’s eight-piece music ensemble, including the Extended Filippino Talking Gong Ensemble with Claire Chase on flute, Alex Peh on piano and Levy Lorenzo and Susie Ibarra on percussion, joined by the four-member Bergamot Quartet comprising violinists Ledah Finck and Sarah Thomas, violist Amy Huimei Tan and cellist Irène Han.

Sky Islands takes inspiration from the musical traditions of Luzon’s sky islands and represents the Montane Forest Ecosystem through a performative sonic installation. The piece explores Ibarra’s percussion sound language in extended techniques for all players, featuring Philippine Northern style interlocking rhythms and melodies found in bamboo and gong and flute music of the Kalinga and Cordilleras Region in Luzon. Sky Islands is a musical call to action, highlighting Luzon’s rainforests—an endangered region with 31 endemic species, including the Philippine Eagle, and a region that has both volcanic and non-volcanic mountains amidst diverse fauna—with the aim of connecting people to our fragile and beautiful ecosystems and draw awareness to changing climate and global community practices.