Independent Arts News Reporting 
Pictured Above: Self portrait of Concordia’s videographer and photographer, Zak Winokur.
Eine Kleine Naturmusik
By: Lori Goldstein
What better day to herald the wonders of Nature in music than the autumnal equinox, when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, and day and night are of equal length? Accordingly, the Concordia Chamber Players will unveil their “nature lies peaceful” concert on September 21 at 6:00 PM. The concert will take place in the barn built in 1874 at Glen Oaks Farm in Solebury, PA, where owners Doug and Wendy Kale have been happy to host Concordia season openers for more than a decade. They’re looking forward to meeting Brent Alderfer, their “neighbor” and owner of Spring Creek Farm, who has graciously agreed to be the exclusive sponsor of the concert.
Pictured Above: Glen Oaks Farm. Photo Credit: Contributed.
When music director Michelle Djokic curated the eight Nature-inspired pieces, she envisioned an immersive experience that would capture both the ear and eye. Michelle asked videographer and photographer Zak Winokur to create videos that would illustrate the harmony of music and Nature. True to Michelle’s trademark programming, some of the pieces are favorites of classical music lovers, such as “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and others are newly discovered gems.
Her first request was for the projection images “to be as big as possible,” and Zak was able to find a projector that will fill most of the barn’s 30-foot-wide-by-20-foot-tall white plaster and stone wall. Because the string quartet will be seated right in front of the wall, and the audience just a few feet from them, “the images will have this large impact, it will be very encompassing,” predicts Zak. Cellist Michelle Djokic will be joined by violist Jordan Bak and violinists Siwoo Kim and Rubén Rengel.
Pictured Above: Videographer Zak Winokur at work. Photo Credit: Contributed.
Michelle also asked that all the videos be filmed in Bucks County, a limitation that Zak welcomed since he grew up here, “so it was near and dear to be filming places that I would have walked by otherwise.” He began filming in April 2024, when they first spoke of the project. He wanted to capture as much of the seasonal changes during spring and summer as he could with original footage.
Zak imposed a few limitations of his own. He wanted to focus on Nature as specifically as possible, so not necessarily familiar sights like the covered bridges or barns of Bucks County. The only element of man-made influence is in the video which features Spring Creek Farm.
Latvian composer Peteris Vasks’s The Fruit of Silence is inspired by a prayer of Mother Teresa.
The fruit of silence is prayer
The fruit of prayer is faith
The fruit of faith is love, The fruit of love is service
The fruit of service is peace.
Pictured Above: Full Moon Rising, a still shot from Zak Winokur’s video for The Fruit of Silence, Peace Valley Park. Photo Credit: Zak Winokur.
For this piece, Zak decided to film a full moon rising over silhouetted trees in Peace Valley Park. He imposed another limitation on himself: “I knew that I had to be very gentle with such a large image. I couldn’t be moving the camera. There might be movement in the image from wind or water or the moon rising, or the leaves of the tree blowing, but I wanted to make sure the camera itself was completely stable.” So he shot everything on a tripod. In fact, all the videos were shot on a tripod.
He was also sensitive to the matter of tempo in the music of The Fruit of Silence. “The moon rising slowly, I thought, fit the tempo of the music very well. There were plenty of exciting moments where I would give some images a try with the music and know right away whether or not the tempo of my filming was matching the tempo of the music.”
When Zak first met Michelle for a video project at the Nakashima Woodworkers Studio in 2020, she asked if he could weave in the environment with the music. “That became a really fateful question for me because it set all sorts of motion in my life as a videographer. What I discovered in that project and what I’ve used since is that multiple exposure—where I can have multiple images interacting with each other visually—has a musical effect,” says Zak. “All of a sudden there’s the harmony between images.”
Zak explains that he was “seeking to emulate the music in that regard with a couple of ‘voices,’ [images] interacting with each other. In a still image from one of the videos, we see “a field of fireflies, so I have the fireflies dancing, and I superimpose with the night sky the view of the stars, and now all of a sudden the fireflies are twinkling like stars.” I point out to Zak he’s composed a visual chamber work, replete with the interwoven, harmonious layers that make chamber music so magical.
Video Above: Now Found is the Fairest of Roses, filmed at Spring Creek Farm.
For another less familiar work, Now Found Is the Fairest of Roses, ascribed to a Danish string quartet, Zak did some music research of his own. He discovered that the piece was a Danish hymn attributed to a Danish bishop and composer of hymns in the 18th century. While the music is instrumental, the text of the hymn guided Zak in his visual choices. Michelle thought Spring Creek Farm would be the perfect setting for this piece, and the last line of the first verse—“The sun of mercy sends her its light to shine within”—told him he wanted to be filming in good light for a camera.
“The nostalgia of the music is accompanied by a sweeping view of the farm from a hill overlooking the valley,” says Zak. “There is time here at the top of the hill to reflect as the music pulls deeper, and then as the melody reappears, the visual journey transitions to the creek at the bottom of the valley. To me this has the sensation of going to the heart of the matter and finding the ‘rose’ that was waiting to be found.” And he accomplishes this visual transition while still restricting the camera to the tripod. The only movement comes from the wind, water, or wildlife that it captures.
Pictured Above: Verdant Spring Creek Farm. Photo Credit: Zak Winokur
Concord—to be in agreement or in harmony with each other, that’s the essence of the Concordia Chamber Players, who so poignantly capture man’s connection to the natural world, as expressed in the music of composers inspired by Nature. Concord may similarly apply to Spring Creek Farm, in the way that its farmers are working in harmony with the land.
I had the opportunity to visit Spring Creek Farm in preparation for writing this article. Owner Brent Alderfer warmly greeted me and invited me to a seat in his John Deere “golf cart” for a tour before we sat down to talk. It was a picture-perfect blue-sky day.
Pictured Above: Brent Alderfer in his “golf cart” at Spring Creek Farm. Photo Credit: Lori Goldstein for Arts News Now.
We bumped into Valerie Harris, who had just picked some beautiful dahlias from the flower field to sell in bouquets at the market. I also got to meet Roberto Escamilla, who has been working here for 30 years. (Prior to Brent’s ownership, Spring Creek had been a horse farm.) Roberto has taken over Hannah Hill’s position as head vegetable farmer (Hannah has taken another position on the team). Brent drove by the greenhouse where vegetables are grown from seed. We rolled down to the creek and pond. I saw cows in the distance and asked how big a herd (around 40-45) does livestock manager Matt Dingle oversee. Brent also showed me the solar panels they had just added to the barn roof to keep up with their electricity demand.
Pictured Above: Crossing paths at the dahlia field with Valerie Harris at Spring Creek Farm. Photo Credit: Lori Goldstein for Arts News Now.
Ever since 2016, when Brent began organic farming (this type of farming uses no chemicals or pesticides) on Spring Creek’s 165 acres in New Hope, PA, he’s been following “the perfect formula that Nature’s developed over millions of years: if you replenish the soil, that restores carbon content and the organic matter in the soil, and over the years we’ve noticed…the grass gets healthier, and it gets fertilized [by the manure of the cows, who are rotated through the fields to graze on the grass and weeds] and it stays green longer, and then we use some of the same methods to restore the land where we’re growing the vegetables.” This is what he means when he says Spring Creek is a “regenerative farm,” abiding the natural cycle of plants and animals.
“It’s not always easy,” says Brent. “You have to move the cows a lot, and we want to keep them from smashing the tomatoes or the peppers, which has happened. It’s its own management challenge, but like most sustainable things, it’s more effort, but it’s so rewarding to see the land replenish itself. For the people who eat our vegetables and meat to know there’s no pesticides or chemicals used, they know it’s just natural. And you notice the flavor in the eggs, beef, and vegetables. So it’s all following Nature’s lead,” to borrow a music metaphor. The farm’s CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) market serves 400 members and the general public.
In addition to relying on Nature’s replenishment of the soil, Spring Creek is self-sufficient in regard to its utilities. Before Brent became a farm-owner, he had a 25-year law career in Denver, focusing on clean, renewable energy. He then became the utilities commissioner for Colorado, developing large-scale solar and wind energy projects. When that term ended in 1999, he returned to his home state of Pennsylvania.
He had grown up in Harleysville, PA, which at the time was a rural Mennonite community. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but he had cousins and friends who did. “A lot of fresh food was always coming in, so I think it was a romantic part of my upbringing.” It led him to purchase his first organic farm in Sergeantsville, New Jersey.
Pictured Above: Spring Creek farmhouse and barn. Photo Credit: Lori Goldstein for Arts News Now.
When Brent bought Spring Creek Farm, his commitment was to be “net zero energy.” He installed enough solar panels so that “the amount of solar produced in solar electricity matches our electricity use. There are certain times of day when solar is not producing, when we’re drawing from PECO. Then there are other times when we produce more solar than we use, so net, on an annual basis, we produce as much solar energy as we use.”
The farm vehicles, the greenhouse, his electric cars, and the apartment for the workers—all are powered by solar energy. The mid-1800s farmhouse in which he and his family live, is heated by a geo-thermal system.
All the land on Spring Creek is irrigated by its namesake, and the spring is probably the reason why the farmhouse and barn were built where they are, along with a springhouse. The spring provides enough water for the land and farmhouse, even in the driest season, which we’re currently experiencing. “This entire area has some springs,” Brent points out. There’s Aquetong Spring. Aquetong in Lenape means “spring in the bush.” The largest in the area, Inman Spring, is located near Rte. 202.
In addition to being a regenerative farm, Spring Creek is the epitome of sustainability. When I ask Brent to define that, he says, “Is everything we’re doing such that it could continue indefinitely, as some who talk about it say, seven generations forward? Could you keep doing what you’re doing without depleting anything…If it’s depleting the soil or needs chemicals to continue at the level we’re at, I wouldn’t consider that sustainable. If we passed on the farm to future generations, family or others that are interested, [could they] keep doing what [we’re] doing in a natural way, replenish the soil, get good vegetables and meat, essentially indefinitely—that’s sustainable.”
When Michelle talked to Brent a year ago about her interest in Nature and sustainability, and creating a concert related to Nature, Brent was enthusiastic. “It’s consistent with the kinds of things we want to promote here in New Hope, and here at Spring Creek Farm,” he said, and he was happy to sponsor the concert, to help sustain the art of music-making. With the theme, “nature lies peaceful,” he immediately recognized “what it does to us when we listen to music with our emotional connection to Nature and the Earth.”
The Concordia Chamber Players’ open rehearsal will take place at the pavilion on Spring Creek Farm, on September 20 at 3:30 PM. At the concert on September 21 at 6:00 PM at Glen Oaks Farm, the organic food served will be from Spring Creek.
“Harmony is as good a word as any for what we’re trying to do here, both with food and the environment, but also with the community. Food is many times at the center of a community and family,” says Brent. “Connecting Nature and the Earth to food, to family, and to community, it’s a perfect concert for us to sponsor.
“Music is the ultimate form of community connection for me, and for many, and we’re happy to be a part of it.”
Pictured Above: Ruben Rengel – violin, Michelle Dijokic – Cello, Siwoo Kim – violin, Jordan Bak – viola
. Photo Credit: Contribution.
The Concordia community will be eager for the next concert, titled “Home,” which takes place November 3 at 3 PM, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, PA. A free open rehearsal will take place at Artyard, 13 Front Street, Frenchtown, NJ on November 2 at 3:30 PM. A preview of this concert is written by Teresa Hopkins, Concordia’s media coordinator.
The title, “Home,” suggests so many things to each of us. The lack of home or longing for one is tenderly portrayed in the beautiful string quartet bearing the title of our program. The composer is Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winner Kevin Puts.
“The meaning of Home is what so many around the world are struggling with,” notes Michelle Djokic, Concordia’s music director and cellist. “The ongoing refugee crisis is ever-growing, and I feel that music as a tool is reaching people’s hearts and consciences when considering how one might help.”
Then there’s the home of understanding one’s cultural and racial identity. Might Call You Art for soprano and string quartet is written by Emmy Award-winning composer Jasmine Arielle Barnes. The title, “Might Call You Art” comes from the last poem in this four-movement song cycle setting of the poetry of East Cleveland native King Witherspoon.
The words resonated with Barnes’s experience as a Black musician, and her nuanced treatment of poetic tone reflects her deep understanding of Weatherspoon’s lyrics. Her music has been described as “the best possible blend of Billie Holiday and Claude Debussy” by The Boston Globe.
“I have programmed works of Black composers but also want to include artists of color,” says Michelle. “I researched soprano Melissa Joseph after seeing the awards she was garnering. She actually told me about Jasmine Barnes’s composition and asked me to consider programming the work. The words speak to another discussion of home, growing up as a Black youth in this country. It is a well-written work and the message is so relevant.”
Finally, we explore the return to one’s home or birthplace in the String Quartet in G Major #13, Opus 106 by Czech composer Antonin Dvorák. This is the first work to be written entirely in his native country once Dvorák had returned home from the United States. “The Dvorák is reflective of his own voice,” says Michelle, “and the influences of having called the U.S. home as well.”
The artists performing in this concert will be soprano Melissa Joseph, violinists Anna Lee and Siwoo Kim, violist Michael Casamir, and cellist Michelle Djokic.
More at Concordia ChamberPlayers.org
