Nina Keith at Zorthian Ranch (photo by Glen Han)
We hope to see you at the historic Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden for our final gathering of this limited collaborative series of intimate monthly concerts focused on collective breath, meditation, and unity. This series with Storrier Stearns will return in Spring of 2027, but for now, this is music as medicine, collective ritual, and an invocation for the worlds to come.
We’re sharing this month with Living Earth’s sorceress of the soundboard, our co-steward Nina Keith, who has spent much of these last couple years working with Rachika Nayar in their epic collaborative Disiniblud project and composing the music for the brilliant Alice Bucknell’s newest work, Coyote Time. Nina is one of our favorite musicians and composers, we last collaborated on her May performance at Listen To Music Outside In The Daylight Under A Tree, and we hope that this is a beautiful chance for you to get to know her work even better.
We’ve given this micro-series the name ‘The Paradise Garden of Endless Melodies’ as a play on two references. First, as a nod to the late IASOS and his Vibrational Environments series which included an album called The Paradise Bird of Endless Melodies comprised of synth and birdsong. Second, as a love letter to the history of Paradise Gardens, and their adjacent role in both Japanese and Persian culture as sites for utopic world building.
Bring a blanket and gather in the garden with us for an evening of spacious sounds and the rekindling of something very special. We’ll have tea available for you upon arrival & offer the reminder that there are no animals allowed at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden aside from our critter friends who nest, rest, and digest throughout the koi ponds and tree canopies.
We may still be setting up and tinkering with sounds at 5p, so pls feel free to lay and wander/wonder and enjoy the garden. Nina will begin around 5:30p.
🎋
Nina Keith is a Philadelphia-raised, LA-based musician and composer whose work spans contemporary classical, ambient, and experimental genres. She gained recognition with her debut album MARANASATI 19111 (2019), praised for its inventive use of woodwinds, piano, and field recordings.
Keith’s music explores themes of memory, ecology, and personal history, balancing delicate arrangements with bold experimentalism. Her live performances often feature immersive multimedia elements, blending acoustic and electronic instruments in deeply emotive presentations. 2025 saw Nina on tour with Rachika Nayar to share their collaborative project Disiniblud & here in LA Nina largely working on bringing Periphone to life, film / tv / video game scores, and co-stewards Living Earth.
The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden was created by landscape designer & craftsman Kinzuchi Fujii between 1935 – 1940 for Charles and Ellamae Storrier Stearns. It is the only intact example of a major Japanese-style garden created before World War II for a residence in Southern California.
The teahouse which we gather alongside is named Niko-an, meaning Abode at Two Ponds. The original teahouse was built in Japan to Kinzuchi Fujii’s exacting specifications, then disassembled and shipped to Los Angeles for reassembly in the garden. The twelve tatami mats covering the floor signified a teahouse of great importance.
Kinzuchi Fujii’s son possessed his father’s original plans and many photographs taken during the garden’s first construction. These were an invaluable resource during the garden’s recent restoration.
Though the original teahouse burned down in 1981, it has been rebuilt. Dr. Takeo Uesugi, an accomplished landscape architect and designer, worked closely with the current owners, Jim and Connie Haddad, to restore the teahouse, faithfully adhering to Kinzuchi’s original drawings, photographs and architectural plans.
We’re very grateful to Jim, Connie, Virginia, and Heidi for welcoming Living Earth to the breathtaking Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden.