Seminar :: Cory Diane Ashby :: March 6, 2024

Gulf of Mexico Soundscapes and the Story of the Rice’s Whale: An Interactive Presentation and Performance

Cory Diane Ashby

== independent researcher ==

ABSTRACT

In this interactive event, composer/ researcher Cory Diane will provide an overview of their creative and scholarly work on the soundscape of the Gulf of Mexico, and the story of critically-endangered, recently-named Rice’s Whale. Just decades ago, it was a fringe position in marine science to suggest that the Gulf of Mexico was home to a resident population of Baleen whales, let alone that these whales should be considered a unique species. It wasn’t until January 2021, after decades of bioacoustic and genetic research, that these whales were recognized as a species - one of the most endangered on the planet.

Diane will tell a story of these whales from the perspective of sound, as it relates to the fields of ocean acoustics, oil exploration, and marine conservation. They will offer a survey of NOAA’s most recent bioacoustic research, showing that these whales are present along the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico throughout both U.S. and Mexican waters; and discussing the ways these whales are uniquely threatened by anthropogenic sound sources, in particular the sounds of shipping and seismic studies. Part talk, part performance, Diane will offer live performances throughout this event, demonstrating how they translate this research into musical compositions.

BIO

Cory Diane is an independent composer, performer, scholar and advocate, based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. Much of their recent work focuses on vibration as a form of inquiry within the sciences, with a particular emphasis on marine acoustics and gravitational wave astronomy. Their work has been supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, and as a Harvard Fromm Fellow at the 2023 Composer’s Conference. Their most recent piece was commissioned for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for its inaugural Rice’s Whale Convention. They are currently developing a project related to gravitational wave astronomy in collaboration with Dr. Denise Frazier and scientists at MIT’s LIGO research lab, and hope to start making regular trips into the Gulf of Mexico to begin singing with Rice’s Whales.