how to be both
For Prepared Piano Four-Hands and Field Recordings.

Performed by Ariela Bohrod and Gabriel Newsham Ariela Bohrod and Gabriel Newsham (prepared piano four-hands), alongside the artwork of E i M O.

how to be both
For Duo and Field RecordingsInspired by the sonic friction of modern urban life, how to be both explores the delicate, often blurred boundary between the concrete city and the natural world.The piece was born out of composer Dayton Hare’s first impressions of moving to Paris—a city defined both by its relentless, overwhelming roar and its sudden pockets of quiet, deliberate greenery. Navigating a metropolis striving to weave nature back into its urban fabric amidst an escalating climate crisis, the work asks a vital question: How can we be both a modern civilization and a sanctuary for a living Earth?Musically, how to be both blends live duo performance with field recordings captured across Paris. Rather than keeping the city and nature separate, the piece weaves them together, showing how deeply intertwined our built environments and natural soundscapes truly are.This piece is a multidisciplinary collaboration. It features an in-situ painting by artist-in-residence E i M O, created specifically to dialogue with the music and reflect these coexisting worlds.