View Source | September 17, 2018
Arizona State University’s School of Music launched the 2018-19 Organ Series with a multidisciplinary presentation, “Walls of Sound: The Ecology of the Borderlands,” addressing the ecological impact of a wall at Arizona’s southern border.
“Our program seeks to show that the border wall is an invasive species amongst the biodiversity in the borderlands,” said Kimberly Marshall, Goldman Professor of Organ in the School of Music in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. “Knowing that the border wall issue has been explored extensively, we focus specifically on the unforeseen ecological problems of erecting a wall through a fragile Sonoran Desert ecosystem.”
The multidisciplinary presentation consisted of video, audio and scientific work of many on- and off-campus collaborators. In addition to the music, Toby Yatso, lecturer in the ASU School of Music and artist-in-residence at Phoenix Theatre, narrated the performance. Michael Schoon, associate professor in the ASU School of Sustainability and Senior Sustainability Scientist for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, provided expertise to the program’s narration. Samantha Lloyd, multimedia specialist in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, provided experiences and expertise on biodiversity in the borderlands through her videography work.