Brooklyn Botanic Garden commemorates COVID-19 anniversary with reprisal of loved

The meditative composition by Michael Gordon will play on BBG’s Cherry Esplanade starting March 13.

March 12, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The Cherry Esplanade is a must-see spot during Sakura Matsuri. Eagle photo by Paul Frangipane

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This week marks a solemn anniversary: It has been one year since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Brooklyn and much of the world. We take this time to remember those lost in our lives and in our communities.

“All of us in New York City have lived through the terrible pandemic. We have lost family, friends, and neighbors. We have seen our city shut down,” says Adrian Benepe, president and CEO of Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “Now, as hope begins to bloom with the spring flowers, we commemorate those lost with music and natural beauty. Brooklyn Botanic Garden is honored to play a role in helping Brooklyn residents and New Yorkers to remember and to heal in nature.”

As a way of processing and reflecting on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers loved., a site-specific sound installation created by NYC-based composer Michael Gordon to honor those we have lost. The work debuted at the Garden last summer and will be reprised starting Saturday, March 13, to mark the pandemic anniversary.

Performed by percussionist David Cossin, the meditative composition for seven vibraphones plays hourly through speakers on Cherry Esplanade. Says Gordon: “Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a place of meditation, renewal, and beauty. After a year of staggering loss, we stand here overwhelmed. I wrote loved. to mark the memory of those who’ve passed during the pandemic. This music—alternating waves of resonating metals and silence, ringing like fractured bells—honors those we have loved and lost.”

New York City will observe a day of remembrance on March 14 to mark the one-year anniversary of the first death from COVID-19 in the city. In Brooklyn, Borough President Eric Adams will hold a ceremony on March 14 with members of our community affected by the pandemic.

As part of the ceremonies, BBG will join other Brooklyn cultural institutions in illuminating our three entrances in yellow lights on March 14 at 4 p.m.