Sense of Place to host Volcano Listening Project

In two back-to-back shows, audiences will hear from an ensemble of internationally recognized musicians led by University of Oregon professor/violinist Leif Karlstrom. Musicians Todd Sickafoose, Idit Shner, Adam Roskiewicz, and Jonny Rodgers will accompany sonified volcanology and Karlstrom will share the science behind volcanoes.

Volcanic eruptions can perturb the global climate, build mountains, and reshape human civilizations. While deadly, their roots also provide a foundry for critical minerals that enable modern society. In these ways and others, volcanoes have inspired scientists and artists alike for thousands of years. The Volcano Listening Project explores connections between scientific research and artistic perspectives of volcanoes, developing tools to represent data through sound that draw equally from data science, volcanology, and new music.

Data sonification is a field that involves transforming complex data into sound. Sonification provides a powerful way to understand the complex signals generated by new volcano-monitoring equipment. Sonification of volcanic data provides another way to perceive and interact with this explosive science, well-suited to identifying patterns and creating powerfully emotional, compelling music for outreach and education.

Karlstrom came from a family of professional musicians and earth scientists and has built a career in both domains. As a violinist, he toured nationally and internationally with the bluegrass band Front Country and Small Town Therapy. As a scientist, he is an associate professor at the University of Oregon, where he leads a research group studying volcanic processes, from current activity at Kilauea to climate-altering Large Igneous Province events. He started the Volcano Listening Project in 2023.

Sickafoose is a composer, producer, and bassist widely known for his work with Ani DiFranco (since 2004), in jazz ensembles with the likes of Adam Levy, Jenny Scheinman, Nels Cline, and Allison Miller, and in his own group. His work orchestrating and producing music for the Broadway musical Hades Town earned him a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and a Tony Award for Best Orchestration.

Shner is a professor of saxophone and jazz studies at the University of Oregon, with an active performing and recording career across genres that includes commissioned premieres of new music nationally and internationally. She leads her jazz quartet in the Pacific Northwest and is an award-winning teacher.

Rodgers is a musician and composer known for his work as Cinder Talk and numerous film scores. He has received accolades from The NY Times for developing and performing a unique tuned glass orchestra instrument.

Roszkiewicz is a musician and composer known for his guitar and mandolin work with the Modern Mandolin Quartet (with whom he was nominated for a Best Chamber Music Performance Grammy Award), the Ger Mandolin Orchestra, Front Country, and Small Town Therapy.

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For tickets and more information, visit www.senseofplace.org.