Embedded Files
Building Hydro-Local Community
through Music, Art and Watershed Science
2024-2025 Resilience Theme Award
Arizona Institute for Resilience
The loss of perennial desert flows after colonial settlement has forever altered the landscape and ecosystems of the Santa Cruz Watershed. As we face the challenges of development, mining, and climate crisis, it is essential to understand our desert rivers and creeks as living waters. The Watershed Soundscape project convened a dynamic new cohort of university researchers, nonprofits, Indigenous voices, school communities, and creatives. This artist-led initiative created a multidisciplinary platform to explore drought mitigation and ecological restoration, fusing watershed science with sensory experiences to promote educational outreach grounded in Tucson’s unique sense of place.
project impact
Performances that reached 19,000 concert audience members in the Santa Cruz Watershed
Over 900 local musicians participated, including high school students, community ensemble members, and professional players
music + art + landscape events at Empire Ranch, WMG Living Lab, and the Patagonia Opera House, featuring Resonancia Natural, a new commission for reed trio, electronics, and video art.
The Sonoran Rivers Consortium: 19 ensembles from across Pima County, including high school and community bands, performed Sonoran Rivers: A Celebration of Desert Water. This new work by composer Yuanyuan Kay He and poet Alison Hawthorne Deming explores the ecology and cultural history of the Santa Cruz Watershed and incorporates local watershed data.
In May 2025, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra presented marquee performances of Sonoran Rivers during Young People's Concerts at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall.
K-12 curriculum resources, including a classroom video series for musicians performing Sonoran Rivers.
Guest artist workshops at University of Arizona School of Art and Tohono O’odham Community College, with environmental artist Heather Bird Harris.
Song workshop for Tohono O'odham youth, in partnership with the San Xavier Department of Natural Resources.
music + art + landscape
multidisciplinary concerts
Adobe Hay Barn at Empire Ranch, Las Cienegas NCA • WMG Living Lab • Patagonia Opera House
the Sonoran Rivers Consortium
In 2025, 19 local ensembles premiered a new composition inspired by the ecology and cultural history of the Santa Cruz Watershed. Our goal was to foster environmental literacy and inspire connectedness through music.
Sonoran Rivers: A Celebration of Desert Water
music by Yuanyuan (Kay) HE
text by Alison Hawthorne Deming
for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra
and a consortium of ensembles situated within
the Santa Cruz River Watershed:
Arizona Symphonic Winds
Canyon del Oro HS Wind Ensemble
Catalina Foothills HS Wind Ensemble
Desert View HS Symphonic Band
Flowing Wells HS Wind Ensemble
Ironwood Ridge HS Wind Ensemble
Marana HS Concert Band
Mountain View HS Wind Ensemble & Orchestra
Rincon/University HS Wind Ensemble
Sabino HS Concert Band
Salpointe Catholic HS Symphonic Band & Orchestra
Sonora Winds
Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra
Sunnyside HS Concert Band
Tucson New Horizons Band
Tucson Pops Orchestra
University of Arizona Wind Ensemble
Walden Grove HS Band
Sonoran Rivers video series
Sonoran Rivers video series
connecting scientific and creative content: the watershed science behind Sonoran Rivers
designed specifically for the instrumental music classroom
Chapter 1: What is a Watershed?
featuring University of Arizona hydrologist Dr. Neha Gupta
and composer Dr. Yuanyuan (Kay) HE
Chapter 2: The People
featuring Tohono O'odham scholar Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan
and composer Dr. Yuanyuan (Kay) HE
Chapter 3: Groundwater and Urban Rivers
featuring University of Arizona hydrologist Dr. Neha Gupta
and composer Dr. Yuanyuan (Kay) HE
Chapter 4: The Music of the Future
featuring Watershed Management Group executive director Lisa Shipek and River Run Network program director Lauren Knight
Watershed Soundscape was made possible by a generous $100,000 award from the Technology Research Initiative Fund/Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions Initiative administered by the University of Arizona Office of Research and Partnerships and the Arizona Institute for Resilience. The Sonoran Rivers commission was underwritten by a grant from Pima County OHM/LabExDRIIM (French National Centre for Scientific Research). Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area provided additional funding to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for their participation.
photos by Sara Fraker, Heather Bird Harris, Kay He, and Chris Zatarain
© 2025 Watershed Soundscape Project
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse