Chance invites you to take a walk in the woods with the words of John Muir. A musical landscape surrounds the audience, inviting them to follow around the next bend, and delivering them to a deep appreciation for one of our planet’s most influential figures. Crossings brings “John Muir, University of the Wilderness,” to the State Theatre.

Chance is a quartet comprised of a cellist, violinist, vocalist and an actor; cellist and composer Ed Willett and vocalist Cheryl Leah created a “narrative concert” celebrating the life and writings of a man whose Wisconsin homestead was 20 miles from Willett’s own childhood home.

With Muir’s own writings providing the unifying thread, Chance’s transformative production embraces the long-standing tradition of bringing the inspiration of the natural world to the concert hall.

In “University of the Wilderness,” Muir’s words are celebrated, reflected upon, and reinforced by an accompanying score of nature-forged new music. The original score is deftly performed by the Chance quartet, which also includes violinist Liesel Wilson. Leah and Willett describe the show’s musical landscape as a place where contemporary, classical, and Celtic music beautifully collide.

Actor Thomas Clyde Mitchell, the production’s purveyor of Muir’s words, takes listeners on a journey from Muir’s childhood in Scotland to his young life in Wisconsin and finally to his profound and influential experiences in the great Sierra Nevada Mountains. What is revealed are the undercurrents and influences that helped create one of the world’s great naturalists and forged his legacy that lives on in his Sierra Club, and in his role in history as the father of our national park system.

December 24, 1914 marked Muir’s passing. “University of the Wilderness” brings a welcome drink of pure 19th century water to a 21st century world thirsty for nature’s inspiration. Performers promise a portrayal of a philosophical landscape aimed at inspiring listeners to revivify that part in themselves that shares a kinship with Muir.

The performance is sponsored by the Sierra Club and by the Minnesota Land Trust.

Crossings link for tickets:
http://www.crossingsatcarnegie.com/concertpages/johnmuir.html