XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms
~~Carillon Open House~~

Otsi’tsistó:sera: Native Plants and Planting Songs at the Carillon, Multi-media exhibition and Open House event

Tiffany Ng, Dawn Avery, Beverley McKiver, Grace Jackson, and Carson Landry

April 4-5, 12-6pm
Ingalls Mall North
University of Michigan
(inside of Burton Tower)

Location Info: Charles Baird Carillon in Burton Memorial Tower, 10th floor. The bell chamber may be accessed via a combination of elevator and stairs. Take the elevator to the highest floor possible (floor 8), and then climb two flights of stairs (39 steps) to the bell chamber (floor 10). Ear protection will be available. Built in 1936, the Charles Baird Carillon is not ADA accessible. Visitors with mobility needs are invited to visit the Lurie Carillon during the regular weekday recitals from 1:20–2:00 pm

The sonic/ecological exhibition Otsi’tsistó:sera takes its name from a new carillon composition by Dawn Avery, a composer of Mohawk descent, based on planting songs that Haudenosaunee women of the turtle clan sing to the seeds and plants as they grow their gardens. During this two-day “open house,” visitors may enter the carillon all day and experience a belfry filled with music by Indigenous women and lush with native plants in both organic and virtual forms. Explore the ecology of local native plants and keystone species and their Indigenous significance, discover visual remnants of Michigan’s pre-logging forests, and hear Avery’s Otsi’tsistó:sera as well as piano and carillon performances of Beverley McKiver’s Canadian Floral Emblems during live carillon concerts and at an on-demand listening station. Performances and recordings by Tiffany Ng, Carson Landry, Grace Jackson, and Beverley McKiver. With special thanks to forest history consultant Hillary Pine, BA ‘11 (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

Otsi’tsistó:sera [Planting Songs] (2023)
Dawn Ieri’hó:kwats Avery (b. 1961)

Performers:

Tiffany Ng, University Carillonist
Grace Jackson, DMA student in Sacred Music
Carson Landry, MMus student in Carillon
Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Research on Women and Gender

Arrangements from:
Canadian Floral Emblems (2020)
Lady Slipper (Prince Edward Island)
Blue Flag Iris, for Joyce Echaquan (Quebec)
Western Red Lily (Saskatchewan)
Mountain Avens (Northwest Territory)
Aupiluktunnguat/Purple Saxifrage (Nunavut)
Pacific Dogwood (British Columbia)

Beverley McKiver (b. 1958)

History Consultant: Hillary Pine, Northern Lower Peninsula Historian, Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Dawn Ieri’hó:kwats Avery is a Grammy-nominated composer of Mohawk descent. Her calmly passionate vocals and soaring cello lines reflect a deep spirituality rooted in her Native American heritage and love of sacred traditions around the world. Otsi’tsistó:sera (2023) honors the planting songs that Haudenosaunee women of the turtle clan sing to the seeds and plants as they grow their gardens. You will hear three original planting songs, played one after the other with the insertion of a song of urgency to take care of the earth, waters, plants, and the elders. Traditional women’s seed songs are also sung consecutively, with pauses in between. The third section is followed by the last planting song that ends with a traditional women’s song coda, Kainawiyaheya, Yo Ho! Avery notes: “I was privileged to work with Kaheh’tí:io (Jan Longboat) and Tawènte’se (Ray John) both of whom taught me how to plant and harvest Haudenosaunee gardens in the old way and to the Six Nations singers for teaching me planting songs. Otsi’tsitó:sera is composed for Tiffany Ng whose dedication to the performance of contemporary works for carillon is equal to her dedication to public planting projects”.

Beverley McKiver is a pianist, composer, and music educator just east of Ottawa, Ontario.

Formerly a business analyst for many years, she made the decision to pursue her lifelong love of music. She spent her formative years preparing for Royal Conservatory exams and music festivals, and earned her college tuition by accompanying ballet classes. She has served as a pianist and organist for congregations in Kingston, Scarborough, and Ottawa.


McKiver considers music a life-long learning process. In 2019, she completed the Undergraduate Piano Pedagogy Certificate program at the University of Ottawa, including teaching practicums with OrKidstra and Lotus Centre for Special Music Education. In 2019, 2021 and 2022, she attended the Indigenous Classical Musicians and Banff Musicians in Residence programs at Banff Centre for the Arts. Her compositions have been performed at Native Earth Performing Arts and in collaboration with Jumblies Theatre and Soundstreams in Toronto, and on the Peace Tower carillon in Ottawa. In 2020, she was awarded a Digital Originals grant from the Canada Council to compose piano solos for each provincial and territorial emblem. The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) has commissioned her for a carillon piece to be premiered at the annual GCNA Congress in 2024.

Hillary Pine lives in St. Ignace and is a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She has a B.A. in Art History from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in Cultural Heritage & Museum Studies from the University of East Anglia. She is the Northern Lower Peninsula Historian for the DNR and Michigan History Center. Hillary works out of Hartwick Pines State Park and is responsible for the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum, the Higgins Lake Nursery, and the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Museum. Hillary especially enjoys giving tours and public programs to share Michigan’s diverse history with the public.

Grace Jackson is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a concentration in organ and sacred music at the University of Michigan studying with Professor Nicole Keller. In May 2023, she received a Master of Sacred Music from the University of Notre Dame with a concentration in organ, having studied with Dr. Kola Owolabi. During her time at Notre Dame, she served as organist and graduate assistant for the Liturgical Choir at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. A native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and a member of the Choctaw Nation, Grace completed a Bachelor of Music in organ and piano performance from Oklahoma City University (OCU) studying with Dr. Melissa Plamann and Dr. Sergio Monteiro. She was honored at OCU with the Theodore Presser Scholar award, served Westminster Presbyterian Church as organ scholar (2017–2020), was music assistant for Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel, held leadership in the Oklahoma City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, was Alpha Zeta chapter president of Sigma Alpha Iota, and from 2020–2021 served St. Joseph Old Cathedral as Director of Music and organist. Grace currently serves St. John’s Church of Detroit as organ scholar under the direction of Dr. Huw Lewis. Her latest musical endeavor is carillon study with Dr. Tiffany Ng.