Few audiences think about how instruments that make their beautiful music are created. Yet there are compelling stories behind the melodies. For instance, take the grenadilla wood that makes oboes, piccolos, clarinets, bassoons, and even some guitars. Its Mpingo tree grows almost exclusively in Tanzania and Mozambique, as it has become extinct in other areas.
My friend Brenda Schuman-Post writes from San Francisco, that she’s arranged a collaboration with the African Blackwood Conservation Project (ABCP) through a Global Connections Grant from Meet the Composer. Together with Tanzanian musicians, she’ll create and perform a new piece of music that serves as a bond between the people who are learning to preserve and protect the African Blackwood tree and the Western musicians who play the instruments made from it.
Since I’ve known her, Brenda has been interested in Mpingo conservation and renewal, and she points out that the Mpingo also serves another purpose. Its roots support bacteria that nourish the soil, and so the trees are being replanted on farmland, and will be marketed to the music industry. While they grow, the seriously depleted earth is renewed and crops benefit from the increased fertility of the earth.
Performances of the new music will take place at rural conservation clubs, in schools, colleges, and culminate with a performance at Environmental Day celebrations on September 27, 2008, the first time that most Tanzanians hear the oboe live. Brenda’s $4,000 grant covers a lot, but she still needs funds, donated laptops, and frequent flier miles. If you can help, please visit Brenda’s site at www.oboesoftheworld.com or email her at bsp6263@gmail.com
