A sound art work that invites you onto the water, and into the river’s world. Weaving music, field sound and spoken word, science and imagination, Tonal crafts a distinctive vision of the River Tone from human and otter perspectives.

With original music by Welsh composer and otter fan Timothy Johnston


Tonal Ears on the River Event_FINAL

Sanctus for mixed a capella SATB choir. Directed by Alejandro Oliveros.
Soprano: Ella Green,  Makenzy Kay,  Kaeleigh Kruger
Alto: Anna Guenther, Emma Parker, Jennifer Struth
Tenor: Brody Hilton, Madilynn Gomez, Troy Quesinberry
Bass: Stephen Peo, Tyler Stone, Ethan Wood

Sanctus

Meditation for solo mixed percussion. Performed by Alvin Taylor.

Meditation

Difference Music for variable ensemble (performed here by string quartet). Aleatoric music based on a Bach chorale. The chorale performed here is Christus, Der Ist Mein Leben.
Cadence Shevy and Gabriel Bravo, violin
Ford Amerson, viola
Iana Parks, cello

Difference Music

The finale is a high-energy collision of worlds. We start with the driving strings and distinct textures of Vivaldi, building momentum until the piece transforms into the jazz-inflected harmonies and rhythms of Gershwin. It features big orchestration and technical piano work, bringing the concerto to a fitting, exuberant close. Read more about the story behind this music in my memoir, "The Keeper," at michaeljcriss.com.

Vivaldi and Gershwin

A playful, lilting melody that serves as the "joke" of the concerto. This movement alternates between a pleasant, hummable theme and rapid, technical piano passages that challenge the performer. It captures the joy and humor inherent in a friendship that has lasted half a century. Read more about the story behind this music in my memoir, "The Keeper," at michaeljcriss.com.

Scherzo

This opening movement explores the evolution of musical order into rhythmic complexity. It begins with a dedicated nod to the Baroque era, introducing a theme heavily inspired by Bach (with a brief quote from the 4th Brandenburg Concerto). As the piece develops, the motive morphs, shifting time and texture until it arrives at a driving, Stravinsky-esque passage. It is a journey from the mathematically divine to the rhythmically primal. Read more about the story behind this music in my memoir, "The Keeper," at michaeljcriss.com

Bach and Stravinsky

This movement is the spiritual center of the concerto. It reflects my deep connection to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Kansas Flint Hills—a place I consider a "Sacred Space". The music attempts to capture the feeling of standing on the Scenic Overlook, viewing the "ocean" of grass. It is a meditation on peace, vastness, and the quiet beauty of the American landscape.  Read more about the story behind this music in my memoir, "The Keeper," at michaeljcriss.com


Chorale

“I Cannot Hear, I Cannot See, I Cannot Speak, But I Feel Symphony.”
A symphonic testament born from love, loss, and unbreakable devotion.

This work expands the original piano piece into a full orchestra — a vast emotional landscape shaped by the moment the composer’s beloved black cat suddenly lost her sight.
What began as a single surge of emotion has blossomed into a symphony that declares:

Even when vision fades, the dignity of life, the right to joy, and the pursuit of happiness remain unshaken.

Throughout the piece, the orchestra breathes with warmth and resolve.
In the swelling central movement, listen for the pulse of life — a driving, almost trot-inspired surge — representing a vow to stay together forever, through every darkness and light, carried by infinite love.

This is more than a symphony.
It is a voice beyond hearing, a sight beyond seeing — a cry from the soul to honor all living beings, seen or unseen.

Let this piece whisper to you:
“Feeling is seeing.”

I Cannot Hear, I Cannot See, I Cannot Speak, But I Feel Symphony.

ZRIKAVAC by Vladimir Nazor. Zagreb 1918 (Translated by Željko and Marko Bajzer)

Last night in my garden full of moonlight,
in the chorus of the nightly crickets
a sound pulled at my thoughts -- one of the crickets
was erring in rhythm, playing louder than the rest.
His chirping was stuttered, now weaker, now stronger.
Like the sound of a damaged damaged bell,
breaking abruptly, trembling with pain;
Like the whimper of a weeping soul.
Pain of the summer past, terror spreading 'round
as the winter appraoches.
He stumbles and pauses,
only to continue more bitterly –
and I did not know
Whether this cricket was chirping in the garden or in my heart.
The whole night I listened to his song.
and then I understood more clearly why
I am becoming weary,
why a chill freezes me,
With an unwelcome companion: unease.

When I saw the first sun ray on a new day,
I awoke abruptly from my anxious thoughts.
Gray, humid, with a dead cricket in her palm,
Autumn was standing at my door.

Zrikavac

Rising star rewriting all music history.　rosu
artist link
applemusic
https://music.apple.com/jp/artist/rosu/1729955406

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/artist/2faJBc6tGVkPQuZU8jOTM4?si=CLhhktpiQ9yEZ6bMOKFtPQ

patreon
patreon.com/rosu419
audiomack
https://audiomack.com/1rosukiyo

Bandcamp
https://rosu1.bandcamp.com/music

Composer, writer, and conceptual artist. I'm sober and a sexual abuse survivor. My music is my journal—a testament to art as a powerful tool for recovery. Thanks for listening.

Fiona MacDonald works collectively as Feral Practice to create art projects that deepen and expand our connection beyond the human. Often people set up a divide between human and nonhuman being and between different categories of knowledge and understanding. Feral Practice works across these barriers.

Music of Marko Bajzer - to learn more about me, visit www.markobajzer.com

New tracks tagged #ContemporaryClassical