Press

'When I connected with Sara, I knew she was the type who was going to take this up in a way that would be not only very beautiful, but very meaningful,' says [Adam] Flatt...To prepare, Graef spent time with Bill and Joanne Barton in the Yakona preserve, drawing inspiration from its natural splendor. 'We would lie down on the moss and just look up at the sky and listen to the wind in the trees and feel the energy of the different, special places there in the preserve,' Graef says. 'And it was incredible.'

'What I really wanted most to say is to express the gratitude of being in that space and for all the history of what has been there, what was decimated and what has been given back...'

Graef is passionate about programming music by diverse composers and using music as a platform for advocacy through art. Much of Graef's music focuses on feminist issues, gun violence, social justice and climate change.

Polar Bear is the result of a collaboration between Neer and Graef, an environmentalist and composer. It will be a powerful call to action for global warming and the passionate reaction to imperiled species, as it also exemplifies the best of new music. 'I am biased, but so far our work has some stunning effects, partly due to the experimentation of color and timbre variances between my high baritone voice and that of a classically-trained trombonist,' Neer said.