Jessi Harvey: Lemur Meets Panda

- Once upon a Time
- an Introduction of Characters: Aye-Aye! - Panda. - Hellos
- a comedy of differences: Cold N Play - Heat Haze - Night Stars - Day Sun
- a revelation of noms: Crunch and Search - Crunch and Hone in - Crunch and Gnaw - Crunch and Dig - NOMS - Wiggling Things - BAMBOO
- a collage of common denominators: Trees to the sky - A honest hello - NOMS, the sociable sequel
- an impartation of candor: Panda, sixth finger. - Aye-Aye, sixth finger! - Friends.

About Lemur Meets Panda:

Our collaborations with Jessi go back to our time studying together as part of the Haverford-Bryn Mawr combined music department, and we were happy to have a chance to work together again when we commissioned a piece for harp and cello at the beginning of 2020. Many of Jessi's compositions interact with nature, environmentalism, and climate change - when we first started talking about a new piece, she mentioned that these topics can get pretty bleak, and suggested that as a contrast, she could write something joyful about our favorite animals. We didn't realize at the time just how bleak that year would be, and how much working on this piece would be a joyful antidote to all the doom-scrolling. The result was a beautiful work that is a delight to play, both complex and whimsical at the same time.

"Lemur Meets Panda" is about an unlikely friendship (much like the harp and cello!) - the Lemur and Panda become pen pals who initially have very little in common. Lemur (specifically, an Aye-Aye) is reclusive and nocturnal, and likes to eat grubs and wiggling things. Panda is playful, and prefers to eat massive quantities of bamboo during the daytime. Each describes to the other their preferred environment and foods, but it is only at the end that they realize their unusual similarity - they both have an extra sixth finger on each paw, deepening and solidifying Lemur and Panda's friendship.

In addition to sharing this piece with you, we're also excited to feature Los Angeles-based artist Gina Florio Sous's beautiful illustrations for the album art. As an added bonus, if you purchase the album for download, you'll also get a PDF booklet featuring more of Gina's Lemur Meets Panda artwork. You can also view more of Gina's incredible work on her Instagram (@_ginadraws_/).