GatherNYC: Majel Connery + Felix Fan: Rivers are our Brothers

GatherNYC presents vocalist Majel Connery and cellist Felix Fan in a performance of their work The Rivers are our Brothers. An electronic song cycle on ecological responsibility, told from the point of view of the land, The Rivers are our Brothers is based on a letter from Chief Seattle that urges us to think of the earth as kin. The songs take a first-person view of nature: rocks sing about their mothers, and snowflakes tell about their hearts of sand. Connery’s vocals and Felix Fan’s electric cello combine to tell the story using a “supernatural” sound. “The goal of this music is to give nature a voice” says Connery, “and this isn’t a cute nature documentary. I want to stop people in their tracks and show them the world like they’ve never seen it: as vibrant and thrilling and alive.”

GatherNYC is a revolutionary concert experience founded in 2018 by cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd. The 2023-24 season at the series’ home venue, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Columbus Circle, includes 16 concerts and runs from October 22, 2023 through May 26, 2024, with concerts held every other Sunday at 11am in The Theater at MAD.

Guests at GatherNYC are served exquisite live classical music performed by New York’s immensely talented artists, artisanal coffee and pastries, a taste of spoken word, and a brief celebration of silence. The entire experience lasts one hour and evokes the community and spiritual nourishment of a religious service – but the religion is music, and all are welcome. Coffee and pastries are served before each performance at 10:30am.