Grace Cathedral

What is TILT? It is a celebration of light and music on the Summer Solstice.  TILT honors our planet, as it leans towards the sun on the longest day of the year, and it also describes what we think you will experience with this concert – a different angle on music – especially music heard in sacred spaces.  

TILT launched in 2020, and because we could not gather in person, we partnered with cathedrals across the country to present an online offering of beautiful music in beautiful spaces. We are excited to open the cathedral doors for an in-person experience this year, and we so enjoyed our partnerships over the last two years, that we have continued that tradition this year. 

Meet our partner, the Reciprocity Project, whose film, Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn), documents a coming together of artists, scientists and the Wabanaki people in Acadia National Park in Maine just before the summer solstice in 2021, to explore how the intersection of nature and culture can help shape a better future.  

The roots of the word Wabanaki can be found in the Passamaquoddy word Ckuwaponahkiyik, or “people from the land where the sun rises.” The Wabanaki peoples have lived in the land we call Maine for millennia. As the people of the dawnland, they consider it their responsibility to welcome the sun for the rest of the continent.  

Acadia National Park is the crown jewel of the North Atlantic Coast and protects the natural beauty of the highest rocky headlands along the Atlantic coastline of the United States, and a rich cultural heritage.  

Reciprocity Project’s Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn) is part of a short film series co-produced by Nia Tero & Upstander Project. Co-directed by Jacob Bearchum, Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Chris Newell, Roger Paul, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector, and Lauren Stevens; the film features performances by Passamaquoddy (a nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy) citizens Christopher Newell, Roger Paul, and Lauren Stevens; Nipmuc citizen Hawk Henries; and multi-Grammy Award-winning cellist and Chinese American Yo-Yo Ma.  

Join us for TILT In-person on Monday, June 20, 8 to 9:30 p.m.  and online from June 21 through 26 at gracecathedral.org. 

About the producers of Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn) 

For TILT, we are sharing songs and stories of gratitude for the sun from the film Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn).  

Reciprocity Project lifts up the value of reciprocity in Indigenous ways of storytelling through film, podcasts, and other creative mediums. Their aim is to create a paradigm shift that reframes our relationships to the Earth, other living beings, and one another. 

Nia Tero works in solidarity with Indigenous peoples who sustain thriving territories and cultures to strengthen guardianship of Earth and all beings.  

The Upstander Project uses storytelling to amplify silenced narratives, develop upstander skills (the opposite of a bystander) to challenge systemic injustice, and nurture compassionate, courageous relationships that honor the interconnection of all beings and the Earth.