Maybe composer Nathan Currier's opportune presence in the greater Sweet Briar neighborhood is proof that the universe isn't random.
The former Juilliard School teacher and award-winning composer will present "From Chaos to Gaia through Music" as a visiting lecturer as part of the College's Honors Colloquia on Wednesday, March 2.
The series brings SBC faculty and visiting scholars from all academic disciplines for informal presentations that encourage discussion among listeners. This year's presenters are asked to apply the concept of order and chaos to their areas of study.
Currier, it turns out, spent six years writing his two-hour oratorio, "Gaian Variations." The work uses orchestra, chorus, vocal and piano soloists, and other solo parts, with text by literary naturalist Loren Eiseley and British chemist James Lovelock. Lovelock's text is from his writings on the Gaia hypothesis. Named for the Greek Earth goddess Gaia, the scientific theory posits that Earth functions as a single living organism that constantly self-regulates to an optimum state.
It's an "ideal intersection" of studies, said Julie Hemstreet, SBC Honors Program associate administrator. "This [presentation] is typical of the spirit of this annual series, of thinking across the disciplines. In this case it's a fine arts perspective of order and chaos."
Currier, who lives in Lynchburg, is a modern classical composer and pianist whose works critics acclaim as virtuosic. His honors include the 1999 Academy Award for lifetime achievement in composition from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Rome Prize, and numerous fellowships including the Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts.
His compositions have been played in many countries and recorded on various labels. "A Musical Banquet," a trio that Currier composed during the first of many visits to the Virginia Center for Creative Arts at Sweet Briar, won an International Barlow Competition prize. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's performance of his prize-winning "Chants and Dances" was broadcast on National Public Radio, and last year his new quintet, "30 Little Pictures of Time Passing," premiered at the Berlin Philharmonic.
Currier will play parts of "Gaian Variations" and discuss why he wrote the piece. "I will talk about how I see Gaia theory in the panoply of the new sciences such as chaos, complexity, emergence, etc. ... and what I think is the central place for Gaia theory in all of that," he said. The composer, who hails from a musical family, says his music is rooted in classical tradition, "though it might not sound like it to the casual listener." But science and the environment also interest him. He sees Gaia theory as central to understanding the global climate.
There's a spiritual side to it, too. Historically, oratorio was a sacred form of classical music that had an instructive, non-liturgical religious text, and was viewed as a kind of unstaged opera. "There's a reason I cast 'Gaian Variations' as an oratorio," he said. "Because I think that Gaia theory, while it is science, is very important in its religious implications."
True to its interdisciplinary soul, "From Chaos to Gaia through Music" offers something for everyone in the audience - something, perhaps, they haven't heard before.
"That's part of the fun," Currier said.
The free lecture is open to the public and will be held in the SBC Babcock Fine Arts Center, room 127, from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by an informal reception with light refreshments.
SBC Honors Colloquia offer the entire campus community opportunities to engage in academic discourse outside of the classroom. Sweet Briar faculty, as well as visiting scholars, present research talks in all academic disciplines for audiences that include faculty and students from Sweet Briar College and occasionally students and faculty from other colleges. The informal presentations are meant to encourage questions and discussion, and all students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to participate.
