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<p class="has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background"><strong>mem mer mère</strong><br>Melissa Grey &amp; David Morneau, Kate Dillingham</p>
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https://youtu.be/pzEbKEoFHi8
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="http://flowercat.org/mmm-epk/laritiste-ordinaire-14_49066670218_o-1000x1500-1/"><img src="http://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/laritiste-ordinaire-14_49066670218_o-1000x1500-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-465"/></a></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="http://flowercat.org/mmm-epk/laritiste-ordinaire-17_49067190601_o-1500x1000-1/"><img src="http://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/laritiste-ordinaire-17_49067190601_o-1500x1000-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-466"/></a></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="http://flowercat.org/mmm-epk/laritiste-ordinaire-13_49067189876_o-1000x1500-1/"><img src="https://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/laritiste-ordinaire-13_49067189876_o-1000x1500-1-683x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-463"/></a></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="http://flowercat.org/mmm-epk/laritiste-ordinaire-22_49066671378_o-1500x1000-1/"><img src="https://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/laritiste-ordinaire-22_49066671378_o-1500x1000-1-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-464"/></a></figure>
<!-- /wp:image --><figcaption class="blocks-gallery-caption"><em>photos by Carl Deutsch</em></figcaption></figure>
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<p class="has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background"><strong>mem mer mère</strong>, a 20-minute live performance for cello, electronics, spoken word and video projection, is a sonic portrait of the world ocean. Melissa Grey &amp; David Morneau perform a roll call reading of dead zones—hypoxic coastal regions of the ocean that are the direct result of human pollution. Kate Dillingham’s cello creates a giant slow-motion wave that begins deep in the ocean’s trenches and rises until it breaks through the brilliant sun glitter on the water’s surface. Their sounds swim among stochastic ripples and undulations that are inevitably pulled by the tides and currents underneath. <strong>mem mer mère</strong> portrays the ocean as simultaneously majestic and wounded.<br><br>Our dependence on the ocean as source and sustainer of life is woven through all human culture in our shared reverence of water. Water goddesses are associated with fertility. The fountain of youth was the impetus for exploration. Immersion in water is a symbol of spiritual birth, a ritual metaphor for birth as the emergence from the amniotic ocean of the womb. Even our Western alphabet contains a reminder of the sea: the letter ‘m’ comes to us from the ancient Phonecian alphabet. The original glyph was drawn to associate its sound with the word mem in which it appeared. Mem was their word for water. ‘M’ is a drawing of ocean waves.<br><br>Human pollution adds significant levels of nitrogen and phosphorus to coastal waters. These are the combined results of agricultural and industrial runoff, insufficiently treated waste-water, and acid rain that pulls pollutants out of the air. The mass accumulation of these nutrients in the water—called eutrophication—can result in diminished levels of dissolved oxygen. Water becomes hypoxic, creating dead zones. Some of these zones last only a few days each year when the water warms, others persist for many months.<br><br>Dead zones disrupt the migration and spawning of fish, result in mass mortality of sea creatures, and cost countless of millions of dollars in lost fishing and tourism income. Each decade since the 1960s has seen a doubling of the number of dead zones in the world’s waters. Research by Dr. Robert Diaz (Professor Emeritus, Virginia Institute of Marine Science) and Dr. Rutger Rosenberg (Professor, Department of Marine Ecology, University of Gothenburg) has compiled a list of known dead zones.</p>
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<p class="has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background">cello<br>Kate Dillingham<br><br>sine waves, recitation<br>Melissa Grey<br><br>trombone, recitation<br>David Morneau<br><br>=^.^=<br><br>produced by Melissa Grey &amp; David Morneau</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="http://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Kate_Dillingham.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-543"/></figure>
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<p class="has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background"><strong>Kate Dillingham</strong> is a cellist,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.katedillingham.com/audio" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recording artist</a>, and proponent of the music of living composers who enjoys a multifaceted career on varied frontiers of the musical world. She&nbsp;has performed concerti of Dvorak and Haydn in musical capitals from Salzburg to Moscow and has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The MET Museum. Ms. Dillingham has driven innovation in the composition and performance space, commissioning contemporary works and collaborating with many artists in original multimedia events. She has produced and recorded audio/video projects, is a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY’s) and serves as President of the Violoncello Society of New York (<a href="https://www.violoncellosociety.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VCS</a>). Kate is Artistic Director of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artsahimsa.online/concerts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ArtsAhimsa</a>: Music for Peace, a global network of artists working together to promote non-violence through affirmative power of the Arts. A skilled teacher and inventor, she founded&nbsp;<a href="http://myblueskies.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MyBlueSkies.net</a>,&nbsp;an online meeting platform for musicians to connect, teach, and live-stream in high quality audio/video. Kate is both architect and facilitator of ideas and is passionate about her craft and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.katedillingham.com/news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">engagement</a>&nbsp;in the full spectrum of music from composition to performance.&nbsp;</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-center has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background">=^.^=</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="http://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/lArtiste-Ordinaire_©-Yuri-Pires-Tavares_06_25_18_BW_13-scaled-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="Melissa Grey. photographed by Yuri Pires Tavares" class="wp-image-120"/><figcaption>photo by Yuri Pires Tavares</figcaption></figure>
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<p class="has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background">Melissa Grey &amp; David Morneau are composers whose process includes ancient and algorithmic sound practices, structured improvisations, and generative processes<br><br>Melissa Grey &amp; David Morneau are producers of music and events whose focus is collaboration with musicians, designers, artists, and scientists.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="http://flowercat.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/lArtiste-Ordinaire_©-Yuri-Pires-Tavares_06_25_18_BW_11_scaled-1024x683.jpg" alt="David Morneau. photographed by Yuri Pires Tavares" class="wp-image-119"/><figcaption>photo by Yuri Pires Tavares</figcaption></figure>
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