Golden Hornet Presents: INSECTUM

For Immediate Release

Golden Hornet Presents 

INSECTUM 

A Sonic Lens Into The Beauty of The World’s

Oldest Living Creatures

Features Compositions and Performances By 

Susie Ibarra, Jeffrey Zeigler and Graham Reynolds

(Austin, TX) – Golden Hornet is proud to announce INSECTUM a sonic exploration of the resilience and beauty of the world’s oldest living multicellular creatures; arthropods. 

Originally inspired by the pioneering imagery of renowned 17th-century scientific illustrator-entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, and furthered by consultation with entomologists Alex Wild and Jo-anne Holley at The University of Texas at Austin, the album aims to not only bring audiences “down” to these creatures’ level but also to reframe our relationship with them. As global climate change accelerates and insect populations suffer from a rapid collapse, INSECTUM challenges listeners to move beyond simply writing these organisms off as mere “bugs.” The new album is out now and available everywhere music is streamed. 

INSECTUM produced by Golden Hornet, the Austin, Texas based nonprofit commissioning and presenting organization, features new works by composers/performers Susie Ibarra (drums, percussion), Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), and Graham Reynolds (piano, keyboards, electronics). Graham and Jeffrey had previously collaborated together on another Golden Hornet commission, The Sound of Science, and wanted to take a deeper dive into a more specific field and bring in a third artist that they were both excited about. Susie, with her unique voice and approach and a track record of projects that interacted with science, was a perfect choice. Each of the three creators had their own entry points to use insects as an inspiration, either through sound samples, videos, or entomology textbooks.

“The artistic process of working with the UT Austin entomologists Alex and Jo-anne made sure that we were not just using popular or romantic ideas of what each insect represents,” says Graham Reynolds, also the Artistic Director of Golden Hornet. “They helped us to understand what was actually real or correct to each particular insect and explained the nuances that the public might not know. The track ‘Army Ants’, we originally had it as very regimented and strict on time, but that’s not the truth. They swarm at first and then retreat as a straight line, so we added Susie’s drum intro to capture that moment.”

INSECTUM combines science and music to weave together an unforgettable audio experience that finds beauty in all things small. The new album is out now and available everywhere music is streamed. 

Audiences can catch live performances of the new album in full on Thu, Feb 22nd in Austin, TX as part of KMFA-FM’s Offbeat Series. For more information and tickets available here. With an additional performance on Mon, Feb 26th in Brooklyn at National Sawdust. For more information and tickets available here. 

Tracklisting for INSECTUM

1. “A Meadow Wakes Up” 
2. “Fly Buzzing”
3. “Water Strider”
4. “Melolonthinae Larvae”
5. “Giant Snail Devours Earthworm”
6. “Desert Locust Plagues”
7. “Mosquito”
8. “Army Ants”
9. “Night Insects”

INSECTUM commissioned by Golden Hornet

Co-Commissioned by Kathleen and Harvey Guion & The Guion Family Fund

Co-Commissioned by Suzanne Deal Booth & The Suzanne Deal Booth

Cultural Trust

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts

Created in consultation with Alex Wild and Jo-anne Holley at The University of Texas at Austin. Insect images displayed are courtesy of Alex Wild.

ABOUT SUSIE IBARRA

Susie Ibarra is a Pilipina- American Composer, Percussionist and Sound Artist whose artistic practice combines being on field, in performance, in studio and supporting conservation of traditional heritages and environments. She has recorded over 40 albums as a composer and drummer and performed in events such as the London Olympics, Rio Olympics, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall, MASSMoCA, Anthony Davies Hall, Sharjah Art Biennial UAE, Zamane Music Festival Morocco, and many more.

ABOUT JEFFERY ZEIGLER

Jeffrey Zeigler has released dozens of albums on Nonesuch Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Cantaloupe and Smithsonian Folkways and has appeared with Norah Jones on her album Not Too Late on Blue Note Records. While serving as the cellist of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet for eight seasons, Zeigler was the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from the Grammys and The Asia Society’s Cultural Achievement Award. Jeffrey Zeigler was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Chamber Music and Innovation at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

ABOUT GRAHAM REYNOLDS

Called “the quintessential modern composer” by the ​London Independent​, Austin-based composer-bandleader-improviser Graham Reynolds records and performs music for film, theater, dance, rock clubs, and concert halls. He recently scored Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Annapurna Pictures) with Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, and Laurence Fishburne, Happy Jail (Netflix), Stop Hitting Yourself (Lincoln Center Theater), Out of Her Mind (BBC), Grimm Tales (Ballet Austin), and a multi-year commission from Ballroom Marfa, The Marfa Triptych, culminating in his Creative Capital Award winning project Pancho Villa from a Safe Distance. Amidst his many other projects, Graham also serves as the Artistic Director of the new music focused non-profit Golden Hornet. In 2020, Graham signed with London-based record label Fire Records and released his original score for Alfred Hitchcock’s silent classic, The Lodger, with a forthcoming album of original material in 2024.

###

For More Information, Please Contact

Press Junkie PR