New Sound Ecologies: Artistic Research and Musical Imagination after the Brazilian Pantanal

This lecture-recital interweaves performance, artistic research, and environmental listening practices developed through the Pantanal Sounds project. Drawing on field recordings from the world’s largest tropical wetland and theoretical perspectives from sound ecology and contemporary performance studies, the program explores how ecological dynamics reshape music making in works for cello and electronics by Brazilian and international composers, including newly commissioned pieces. Through live demonstrations, analytical commentary, and immersive sonic environments, the lecture-recital invites audiences to reflect on the role of artistic research in responding to ecological crises and reframing the relationship between musical imagination, new technologies and the critical standpoint of musical practices.

Free and open to the public.

This performance by William Teixeira, held in Miller Hill (406 Prospect St., New Haven), serves as the conclusion of the ISM symposium "Laboratory for Other Worlds: Designs for Living Beyond Damage." All are welcome to attend either the symposium or performance portions, or both. Sponsored by the Institute of Sacred Music’s Religion, Ecology, and Expressive Culture Initiative.

New Sound Ecologies will also be available by webinar link. Register for webinar here.

Contact: Katya Vetrov

Performer Bio:

William Teixeira is a Professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil) and has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Harvard University and Visiting Researcher at IRCAM. He holds degrees in Cello Performance from São Paulo State University, a Master degree from the University of Campinas, and a Ph.D. from the University of São Paulo, including research residencies at the Paul Sacher Stiftung and the Akademie der Künste, Berlin; he later undertook postdoctoral research in analytic philosophy of art at the Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and is currently a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow of Brazil’s National Research Council (CNPq) at the University of Campinas. A specialist in contemporary music, he has premiered dozens of works and appeared as a soloist with major Brazilian orchestras, participated in the Goethe-Institut’s mentorship program with Ensemble Modern, and coordinated funded research projects including Pantanal Sounds, supported by Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center and a CAPES–COFECUB partnership with Université Paris 8. Recent performances include appearances in France, Portugal, and Chile.