During the summer of 2021, MASS MoCA welcomed the creative team behind Fragility Etudes onto our stages and into our studios and galleries. Composed by percussionist Susie Ibarra Fragility Etudes explores humanity’s interdependence with the natural environment through a world of sound. Ibarra brought together six musicians—including Jennifer Choi (violin), Daniel Louis Doña (viola), Yuka C. Honda (electronics), Jake Landau (pianos and pianet), and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (voice and modular synthesizers)—in a dynamic score of overlapping rhythms. While the team was in residence Yuka C. Honda created the below Fragility Etudes film, before the performance had its live premiere at MASS MoCA in November 2021.

Ensemble performance and soloists
Jennifer Choi: violin
Daniel Louis Doña: viola
Yuka C. Honda: electronics
Susie Ibarra: drum set and percussion
Jake Landau: pianos and pianet
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe: voice and modular synthesizers

Fragility Etudes was commissioned by Asia Society Museum, New York, for the inaugural Asia Society Triennial 2021: We Do Not Dream Alone.

Fragility Etudes is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Courtesy of the artist