Susie Ibarra: Rhythm in Nature

Susie Ibarra creates immersive experiences through sound to invite people to connect to their natural and built environments. Her Pulitzer Prize winning work Sky Islands is a musical call to action, highlighting the endangered rainforests of her home region of Luzon, Philippines, with the aim of connecting people to our fragile and beautiful ecosystems and to draw awareness to changing climate and global community practices. Sky Islands was commissioned by the Asia Society in 2022 and had its world premiere in 2024, with additional support from the Fromm Music Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grant. Ibarra works to support Indigenous and traditional music cultures, including Musika Katatube from the Philippines and leads several ensembles, including Talking Gong Trio with Claire Chase and Alex Peh. She has recorded over forty albums and has performed around the world, including at the 2012 Olympics in London, as part of the 2013 Sharjah Biennial, and at Carnegie Hall. Ibarra has received numerous awards and fellowships, including a Creative Capital Artist Award (2025), Callie's Studio Residency in Berlin (2025), DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program Fellowship (2024-25), the Charles Ives Fellowship (2024) with the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Music Fellowship (2022), a United States Artists Fellowship (2019), a Doris Duke United States Artist Fellow in Music (2019), the National Geographic Explorers Storyteller Award (2020), and a TED Senior Fellowship (2014). Ibarra is the founder of Susie Ibarra Studio and, with artist-musician and engineer Jake Landau, co-founded the label and publisher Habitat Sounds. Her book Rhythm in Nature: An Ecology of Rhythm was published by Habitat Sounds in 2024. She is a Yamaha, Zildjian, and Vic Firth Drum Artist.

This event is funded by the Arts+ Initiative and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, with additional support from the Global Asias Initiative at UMBC. This event is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.