I stopped by Vizcaya last Thursday for a one of it’s kind, environmental performance as part of the villa’s ongoing educational series titled CONSeRvATION.

The featured artist was New York’s quartet So Percussion, which used objects found on the villa’s gardens such as rocks, coconuts, conch shells, sticks, leaves and all sorts of things to recreate works by American composer John Cage.

The idea behind the concert was to explore Vizcaya and its environment in a completely different way, explained Deputy Director for Learning Ann Loshaw. This was the second of the ongoing CONSeRvATION series, an educational program focused on the villa’s preservation efforts.


In fact -as I later learned- James Deering, the owner of Vizcaya, was very involved in preserving Vizcaya’s native plants and vegetation, locating the main house directly on the bay to preserve the distinctive rockland hammock that surrounds the house.

The evening’s opening song, Cage’s Child of Tree, instructed performers to pick 10 instruments by chance, all made of natural/ plant materials. Coincidentally, one of the instruments had to be a dry pod rattle from a poinciana tree, which grows all over Vizcaya, which created a beautiful sound when shook.

But “Very Vizcaya,” a song composed by the quartet specifically for this concert, was probably the peak of the evening, when guests were invited to participate in the performance using objects they found on the garden (as photographed below).

>More CONSeRvATION events are planned for the fall, but meanwhile you can check out Vizcaya’s Moonlight Garden Tours, which are going on every month. Bring your date for a romantic moonlight stroll through the gardens, live music, wine and delicious refreshments. The next tours will take place April 27 and 28, with the tours leaving at different intervals between 6:30 and 9 p.m. Tickets: $15 for general admission, $10 for students, seniors and members.