New Earth Ensemble

The inaugural performance of NEE was recorded in 2021 during the pandemic and included in a project titled ELEMENTS. Bringing together students from Loyola and the three University of Illinois campuses, ELEMENTS is a sound exploration of four states of matter in the form of earth, fire, air, and water. Ruminating on Thale’s philosophy that “all is water,” ELEMENTS is also a meditation on water’s singular importance and relationship to the other three elements.

For their first live appearance in 2022, NEE performed Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered, accompanied by video projections by artist Deborah Johnson and comments by anthropologist and leading eco-scholar, Dr. Mark Pedelty. During the 2023 season, NEE created a program celebrating the music of John Luther Adams and poetry by John Haines, with opening remarks by scientist Dr. Lucy Jones. As a part of the 2023 EcoVP Summer Festival, NEE performed Nicolas Cline’s Watersheds alongside a lecture by Dr. Karl Rockne, Professor of Environmental Engineering at UIC. In spring of 2024, NEE joined Loyola University Choirs to premiere the Kyrie from Dongryul Lee’s forthcoming Missa Laudato Si, which will be performed in its entirety in 2025.