John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich. Photo by Janet Maya.
“Music for Farms” is an international initiative which works to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts. Founded and conceptualized in New York and Canada by musicians and farmers John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich, Music for Farms is a steadily growing ensemble which tours venues and farms performing traditional classical music as well as original compositions and world music arrangements. The group is particularly interested in music inspired by an exploration of connecting opposites – such as in their original work based on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parcifal legend, the meeting of Eastern and Western classical music in their own transcription of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin’s Swara Kakali, in their personal backgrounds of jazz and classical music, and finally in their own lives of practicing music and farming side by side.
Vukovich can be seen in a film about music and farming which he coproduced and appears in, entitled Bach in a Barn, now available for purchase on DVD. Here is an excerpt:
Violinist Vukovich states “Originally, music, dance, and artistic culture in general were strongly inter-connected to, and a part of, our human civilization’s relationship to nature. This was expressed in traditional agrarian society through rituals in rhythm with the seasons – such as harvest festivals. As people have migrated more and more to large urban centres, artistic cultural life has tended to separate from agricultural life. We go to concerts in the city, and we get our food from farms in the country. This has often created a void and famine of culture and arts in rural farming communities, and a corresponding disconnect/abstraction in the arts.” To this end, the proceeds from this event will go towards the creation of a foundation which works to connect world-class music-making and artistic culture with local sustainable agriculture and farming communities.
Music for Farms
John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich. Photo by Janet Maya.
“Music for Farms” is an international initiative which works to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts. Founded and conceptualized in New York and Canada by musicians and farmers John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich, Music for Farms is a steadily growing ensemble which tours venues and farms performing traditional classical music as well as original compositions and world music arrangements. The group is particularly interested in music inspired by an exploration of connecting opposites – such as in their original work based on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parcifal legend, the meeting of Eastern and Western classical music in their own transcription of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin’s Swara Kakali, in their personal backgrounds of jazz and classical music, and finally in their own lives of practicing music and farming side by side.
Vukovich can be seen in a film about music and farming which he coproduced and appears in, entitled Bach in a Barn, now available for purchase on DVD. Here is an excerpt:
Excerpt from Bach in a Barn from Peter McDowell on Vimeo.
Violinist Vukovich states “Originally, music, dance, and artistic culture in general were strongly inter-connected to, and a part of, our human civilization’s relationship to nature. This was expressed in traditional agrarian society through rituals in rhythm with the seasons – such as harvest festivals. As people have migrated more and more to large urban centres, artistic cultural life has tended to separate from agricultural life. We go to concerts in the city, and we get our food from farms in the country. This has often created a void and famine of culture and arts in rural farming communities, and a corresponding disconnect/abstraction in the arts.” To this end, the proceeds from this event will go towards the creation of a foundation which works to connect world-class music-making and artistic culture with local sustainable agriculture and farming communities.
ENSEMBLE MEMBER BIOS:
JOHN MCDOWELL
EMMANUEL VUKOVICH
JULIA MACLAINE
Past Music for Farms performances:
2010
May 2 – Novalis Hall, Angus, Ontario, Canada
May 6 – Bechstein Piano Centre, New York, NY
May 7 – Threefold Auditorium, Chestnut Ridge, NY
May 8 – St. John’s Church, Montreal, Canada
2009
September 11, Brooklyn, NY
September 13, Chestnut Ridge, NY
September 18, Toronto, ON, Canada
September 20, Angus, ON, Canada