Lungs of the City: Olmsted’s Parks in Music

A Concert Series of New Chamber Music
Celebrating Public Parks & Commemorating Frederick Law Olmsted’s Birth

Featuring World Premieres by

Oliver Caplan	Nell Shaw Cohen	Michael-Thomas Foumai	Libby Meyer
Ayumi Okada	Justin Ralls	Christina Rusnak	Ryan Suleiman

Curated & Commissioned by

Lungs of the City: Olmsted’s Parks in Music is a program of new chamber music commemorating the 2022 bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted, the 19th century American landscape architect who laid the groundwork for today’s public parks, famously envisioned Central Park as “the lungs of the city.” This unique concert program explores that sentiment through musical investigations of Olmsted’s living legacy of vital urban landscapes across the United States.

In a cross-regional collaboration amongst a consortium of ensembles and presenters, the concerts will take place in several cities in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. during the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2022. See our list of upcoming events below.

The all-World Premiere program will feature works for flute, clarinet, horn, percussion, violin, viola, and cello, by composers Oliver Caplan, Nell Shaw Cohen, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Libby Meyer, Ayumi Okada, Justin Ralls, Christina Rusnak, and Ryan Suleiman. These accomplished and musically diverse composers, hailing from New York to Hawaiʻi, are members of Landscape Music: a network of composers and performers whose music engages with landscape, nature, and place.

Lungs of the City: Olmsted’s Parks in Music is co-curated and co-commissioned by Landscape Music in partnership with American Wild Ensemble (also a member of Landscape Music), a chamber ensemble which celebrates the people, places, and stories that shape American history and culture through the commission and performance of new music; Juventas New Music Ensemble, a Boston-based contemporary chamber group with a special focus on emerging voices; and Michigan Technological University Department of Visual and Performing Arts, which presents concerts of new music with notable guest performers. All three performance partners will be giving concerts of this program on their 2022 seasons.

Eight musical responses to notable designs by Olmsted and his sons’ firm, Olmsted Brothers, will take audiences on an imaginative journey from New England to the Pacific Northwest. Locations to be highlighted include New York City’s Central Park, Prospect Park, and Fort Tryon Park; Boston’s Emerald Necklace and Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site; Atlanta’s Olmsted Linear Park; Detroit’s Bell Isle Park; Portland’s Forest Park; and Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park. Each work of music will conceptually engage with these parks through thematic lenses that are closely connected to Olmsted’s legacy and remain deeply relevant today.

For more information about Lungs of the City: Olmsted’s Parks in Music, please visit LandscapeMusic.com/Olmsted or contact Nell Shaw Cohen, Director of Landscape Music, at nell@landscapemusic.org.

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Concerts

Juventas New Music Ensemble
Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 8:00 pm EDT
Multicultural Arts Center
41 Second Street, East Cambridge, MA
In-Person & Live YouTube Broadcast

American Wild Ensemble
Friday, May 27, 2022 at 6:30pm EDT
Fort Tryon Park, Dongan Lawn, New York NY
Free – RSVP

American Wild Ensemble
Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 12:00pm EDT
Prospect Park Audubon Center, Brooklyn, NY
Free – RSVP

American Wild Ensemble
Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 7:00pm EDT
CCNY Spitzer School of Architecture, New York, NY
Free – Advance Registration Required

Juventas New Music Ensemble
Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 2:00 pm EDT
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Brookline, MA
Free – RSVP not needed

American Wild Ensemble
Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 6:00pm EDT
Highland Park Bowl, Highland Park, Rochester, NY
Free – More information

Michigan Technological University Department of Visual and Performing Arts
Sunday, October 9, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. EDT
Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts
1400 Townsend Dr, Houghton, MI 49931
In-Person & Live Online Broadcast
Free Online Stream + Pay As You’re Able Tickets – More Information

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Landscape Music is proud to be a Celebration Partner of Olmsted 200.

April 26, 2022, marks the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, author, journalist, public official, city planner and father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted and his successor firms designed thousands of landscape projects across the country, transforming American life and culture. Olmsted’s vision of public parks for all people and his belief that parks strengthen communities and promote public well-being are now more important than ever.

Through events, education, and advocacy at the local and national levels, Olmsted 200 aims to keep Olmsted’s legacy alive by renewing public and policy commitments to the preservation and maintenance of our historic parks and places.

The National Association for Olmsted Parks is the managing partner of the Bicentennial. To learn more, visit the Olmsted 200 website for in-person and virtual event information, blog posts written by diverse thought leaders, teaching materials, and so much more. Subscribe to the Olmsted 200 newsletter for updates and inspiration, and follow Olmsted 200 on social media.