Shenandoah National Park

I was awarded an artist-in-residency at Shenandoah National Park.  The residency consisted of two rigorous weeks of recording the rivers, streams, waterfalls, birds, night sounds, and visitors and local folks who call these mountains home.  From the recordings, I created for the park: Shenandoah National Park: A Portrait in Sound. 

During the residency, my days were full, and my ears were always on call.  I had several serendipitous moments which later would become instrumental in the finished work.  For example, I wanted to record the rich sounds of getting the horses ready at the stables.  I asked the two young, lean cowboys who were there at the time, if I could come back to record the sound of the horses and talk to them.  Sure, they said with soft Virginia accents.  They wouldn’t mind talking to me. 

When I finally set out to record at the stables, instead of the cowboys, two women were getting the horses ready for riding that day.  The women’s love and tenderness for the horses came through beautifully in the recording. 

At the end of the day, to give myself a break, I went out to watch the sun go down, without my recording equipment.  One night at one of the overlooks, I met a local couple who stayed long after sunset. 

As I was getting ready to leave, they said they were waiting for the meteor showers.  I said, if I go all the way back to get my recording equipment, will you wait for me here?  Sure, they said, we’ll be here. 

As meteors streaked across the sky, I captured the moment on that dark summer night in the mountains...

Shenandoah National Park Sound Presentations:

I am presenting the sound recordings I made during my Shenandoah artist-in-residency,
in person or via Zoom.  To sponsor a presentation and for more info:

The Art of Sound: Recordings from the Shenandoah National Park Sound Artist-in-Residency

Press:

WMRA Virginia public radio profiled the start of my residency at Shenandoah National Park:

Shenandoah National Park's Sound Artist