Kemper Unplugged: EcoTones

Curated to intersect with the themes of the Kemper Art Museum’s Fall 2026 exhibition Carolina Ceycedo: Growing Deep Roots, EcoTones presents a concert of chamber jazz works inspired by St. Louis urban prairies; relationships of interdependence between plants, pollinators, and humans; and the health and wellbeing of St. Louis rivers and their nonhuman inhabitants. Inspired by Ceycado’s ongoing work to connect human, flora, and fauna, this EcoTones performance promotes an eco-social worldview of interrelatedness amongst humans and the natural world.  Concertgoers are encouraged to visit the museum’s exhibition before or after the concert, and upon exit, consider the myriad native species of flora and fauna immediately surrounding the museum as beings with agency, requiring time and space to develop into a mature and biodiverse local food web, thriving amongst a human-made campus environment.

Arrive early or stay after to grab lunch at the Museum’s Coffee Bar. Enjoy ice cream sandwiches from Sugarwitch, savory deli sandwiches from Parker’s Table, and pastries from Colleen’s. Members get 10% off your purchase with every visit. Learn more and join here.

These 45-minute concerts are free and open to the public.

Performers

Biography

EcoTones Concerts are whimsical outdoor performances, braiding world-class musicians, audiences, and local public nature spaces to grow new audiences for live instrumental music and an eco-social worldview of interrelatedness amongst humans, flora, and fauna. Named “Best New Concert Series of 2022” by the Riverfront Times of St. Louis, EcoTones features instrumentalists and vocalists performing repertoire inspired by the flora and fauna surrounding trailside stages, encouraging musicians and audiences to listen in a new way and to cultivate a sense of belonging within local nature spaces. EcoTones Concerts has presented once-in-a-lifetime performance events in St. Louis’s Tower Grove Park, St. Louis’ legendary Bellefontaine Cemetery Arboretum, Nyack, New York’s River Hook Preserve, and most recently in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, with an upcoming permanent audio trail of newly composed chamber music celebrating the park’s notable horticultural collections launching in Fall 2026. Please visit www.ecotonesconcerts.org for information about upcoming live performances.

Photo Credit: Andrea B. Swenson