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Shore Line Times, Feature >>
MADISON - "Sweet" may be the perfect word to describe the sound of Paul Winter's soprano saxophone.
The six-time Grammy award winner treated listeners on May 21 as the Mercy Center in Madison inaugurated its new ecology program. In the simple, intimate setting, Winter demonstrated his well-known connection to music and the world around us, both geographically and through its creatures.
For more than 30 years Winter has been making music with whales, elks, wolves and other wild creatures in places such as the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, the forests of Minnesota, and Russia, Africa, and Asia. Winter performed solo, but was accompanied by a pre-recorded mix that enabled the audience to experience the diverse instruments that comprise his ensemble. Standing straight, eyes closed, Winter performed as if that whole ensemble was present.
He was the first composer to incorporate the sounds of nature and wildlife into his music. He is perhaps best known for interpreting and interspersing the "lullaby" of a mother whale, with which he began the Mercy Center program. He musically conveyed the experience of white water rafting in the Grand Canyon, summoning elk in the forest - with grizzly bears not too far behind - and allowed a flock of geese to complete a composition performed alongside a river. He stirred up a pack of wolves in Glacier Park, then invited the audience to join him in a round of cathartic howling. Winter also incorporates the music of various people of the world - the chanting of Native Americans and a group of orthodox Russian dancers that is forbidden to use percussion instruments, but accommodates by using the feet and voices, and the jazzy beat of the Latin Bossa Nova.
Rather than dominating a composition, Winter's sweet soprano sax blends in and enhances whomever he is playing with and wherever he is playing. Speaking of wherever, Winter is equally at home in the Grand Canyon and the canyon-like atmosphere of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. His annual Winter Solstice Celebration has delighted his fans for more than 25 years, combining theater, music and Winter's bond with the natural world. "Silver Solstice," the CD celebrating the event's 25th anniversary received a Grammy Award this year.According to Mercy Center Executive Director Jim Emswiler, Winter's program served as an introduction to the center's new ecology program, which will give guests an opportunity to reconnect with the natural environment while encouraging programs such as composting, organic gardening, heirloom seed preservation and the conservation of natural resources.
For more information on the ecology program or other programs at the Mercy Center, call 203-245-0401 or visit www.mercybythesea.org. 06/02/06 >> go there
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