Elizabeth Efroymson-Brooks

Awareness and appreciation of water became the guiding theme in my project: “Water, Water, Everywhere”.  In RSA it began with a reading of biblical passages, Exodus 17 and Numbers 20,  where Moses strikes the rock for water in the desert. Throughout the weeks, I enjoyed our exploration of water in poetry, art, music and environmental readings. Water is life, yet I feel  this precious commodity is taken for granted, even as waterways have dried up and become polluted.  

With an abundance of ideas from the meetings and readings, I decided to do a Theme and Variations on the many manifestations of water in our lives. The 8 variations include short rhythmic stanzas, called Ghazals, a poetic style that originated in Persia in the 10th century.The variations in my project also include a solo by the ocean, a love song to our Indiana White River, and more.  It felt very natural to use cello as accompaniment to my voice with a bluesy, folksy Americana kind of vibe.  

The title is partly inspired by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge  poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” which has a theme of redemption by appreciation of nature. The symbolism in my text is both global and personal representing the many simple and magnificent manifestations of water in our world.