Beyond 2000: The Future of Our Planet, recorded during the summer of 2004 at Kaiser Lyon Studios, features Susan Rodgers, contralto; Noreen Inglesi, narrator; Roberta Ricci, cellist; and Dr. Audrey Kaiser, pianist. This collection of poetry and music was created as part of a project partially funded by the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts during the spring of 2000. Some of the pieces created as part of this project were premiered by the musical ensemble "Double Helix" at a fundraising event at Rosecliff Mansion sponsored by the Nature Conservancy and the Aquidneck Island Land Trust. Each of the nine pieces in this collection highlight the efforts of the Nature Conservancy to preserve our state's natural treasures. This project was completed with the help of the dedicated staff at our local Nature Conservancy, who donated their time to give me personal tours of Block Island and their preserves throughout the state. The Conservancy's professionals shared their knowledge and were key in each of the pieces I created as part of this project. For example, the fifth piece in this collection was inspired by a guided tour of the Matunuck Hills Preserve, where I was enraptured by forsythia in early bloom glistening atop an ice-capped kettle pond tucked safely away in Matunuck Hills. The third piece in this collection entitled "Goosewing Beach Preserve" was inspired by a tour of that preserve where I could experience first hand a tern carving its nest in the sands and a plover gathering bits of broken shells and tucking itself amidst the velvety blanket of the dunes. "The Nature Conservancy on Block Island," which is the second piece in this collection was once again inspired by a personal tour by the Conservancy's dedicated staff. This piece, which is in a classical style, begins with a poem and is followed by music scored for contralto, cello and piano.

View All Albums