Tune into the many voices of the Sawkill River through this immersive field recording workshop, led by Filipinx nature recordist Zaneta.

In this workshop, participants will listen to multiple perspectives of the Sawkill River, the subtle bends, dips, and fluctuations in flow - essentially tuning into the many voices of this beloved water body. Participants will have the opportunity to listen with hydrophones and portable digital recorders, exploring different immersive field recording techniques and spatial listening.

Led by Filipinx interdisciplinary sound artist and nature recordist Zaneta, participants will also explore listening and field recording as a ritual of connection and reciprocity with local lands and waters, informed by the artist’s cultural traditions.

A limited number of digital recorders, headphones, and hydrophones will be available. Participants are highly encouraged to bring their own digital recorders and phones to practice field recording on their own devices.

Trail Accessibility: We will be accessing the Sawkill River through the Comeau Property. Restrooms are available and parking is located at trail entrance. The path is relatively flat but there are many thick, exposed tree roots on the ground. This is approximately a 1/2 mile walk, then we slope down to the river bank, which is completely made of smooth river stones.

Join acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman, whose work was described by The New York Times as “hypnotizing,” for a dream-like sound journey in the Pitkin Room. Special guest ritualist Zaneta will be leading the creation of an altar for visioning and creativity. Join us for blue lotus tea, and to write down dreams and visions for the future. Zaneta will then guide a meditation, leading into Chris’s journey, to help call in your own intuitive highest guidance and creative visions to come through.

Enhanced by stunning projected visuals, Chris attunes his immersive music to the people present to create a transformative experience that will renew and inspire.

Join us for a celebration of our beloved Zena Highwoods through an evening of immersive sounds and sights from our local forest. Featuring the premiere of interdisciplinary sound artist Zaneta Sykes’ Invitations from the Land: the Zena Highwoods, an eco-ritual of reciprocity based on the artist’s Filipinx traditions of singing to land in offering. Community members will be immersed in a year of forest soundscapes recorded on the solstices and equinoxes in the Zena Highwoods, interwoven with projections of wildlife illustrations by Zoe Keller, documented during the same time period in the very same forest. Soundscapes and sightings will blend into the autumnal night chorus, as the community gathers under the full moon to sing back to the land in a full circle exchange of listening and sound between human and more-than-human kin.

This evening also marks the release of Invitations from the Land: the Zena Highwoods, an album and book documenting the Zena Highwoods in a year of seasonal recordings and writings by Zaneta Sykes and featuring illustrations by Zoe Keller, created in partnership with the Woodstock Land Conservancy. Signed copies of the work will be available.