ELDERFLORA

the trees are speaking

Elderflora is a song cycle on the life and death of a tree. Narrated from the tree’s perspective, Elderflora invites us on a journey inside the mind of nature, experiencing the tree’s thoughts and feelings in vivid detail.

“I want us to see humanity in the world around us,” says Connery. “Music gives me the power to join what we know with what we don’t know: to combine the familiar with the strange. Because if trees have a voice — and I think they do — that voice won’t sound like us. They’re going to sound utterly out of this world.”

Elderflora blends old sounds with new technology, with snatches of madrigals and hymns intersecting with electronic soundscapes. Structured as a series of 10 musical portraits, each movement of Elderflora represents a significant moment in the life of the tree from birth by fire to death by lightning

Elderflora premiered as a duo with cellist Felix Fan (Sigur Ros, David Lang, FLUX Quartet), appearing at the Seattle Symphony/Octave 9 and The Exploratorium (San Francisco). In 2025, Connery performed Elderflora in a special arrangement with violist Jon Vinocour (Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland). Upcoming performances of Elderflora include Chatter (ABQ/Santa Fe), Chatter (Portland), Berkeley, Half Moon Bay, the University of Oregon, and Duquesne University.

Elderflora includes an optional multimedia installation featuring the surreal tree portraits of time-lapse photographer Noah Kalina, whose portraits of nature use minimal lighting to supernatural effect. Kalina is the creator of “Everyday,” a video of Kalina’s face aged over a period of 20 years.

Electronic press kit available on request.

Majel Connery (vocals, synths) is a composer, vocalist and roving musicologist elevating classical music with the power of modern technology. Her voice has been called "superb" by the New York Times and her compositions "thoroughly Schubertian" by the Wall Street Journal. Connery’s environmental song cycle “The Rivers are our Brothers” has been toured and recorded by Grammy-winning choir, Chanticleer. As a musciologist Connery hosts “A Music of Their Own” on NPR and “Reverberations” for New Amsterdam Records.

Felix Fan (cello) has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham and Janos Starker in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Musikverein and Royal Festival Hall. Fan’s collaborators include many of today's leading composers from Philip Glass to Michael Gordon, Hans Werner Henze, Oliver Knussen, David Lang, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Kaija Saariaho, Tan Dun, Julia Wolfe and Charles Wuorinen. Beyond Classical music, Fan has performed with Sonic Youth, Sigur Ros, Wilco and The National and appears regularly with FLUX Quartet.