Our Common Nature – "Kentucky: Yo-Yo Ma and the Louisville Orchestra Perform in Mammoth Cave"

Podcast: Our Common Nature (WNYC)
Host: Ana González
Release Date: October 15, 2025

Overview

This episode of Our Common Nature takes listeners deep into Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, the world’s largest known cave system, for a historic musical event—the premiere of "Mammoth," a new orchestral piece composed by Teddy Abrams and performed by the Louisville Orchestra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma inside the cavern itself. Host Ana González weaves together the story of this performance with the complex history of Mammoth Cave, exploring themes of connection to nature, music as a bridge across communities, and the often-overlooked legacies of Black cave guides like Jerry Bransford. Through music, storytelling, and personal testimony, the episode uncovers how history, nature, and culture converge beneath the Kentucky soil.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Anticipation & Setting for a Unique Musical Event

• Atmosphere and local excitement ([00:04–01:27])
  • Hundreds gather outside Mammoth Cave National Park, buzzing with anticipation to descend into the earth for an unprecedented concert.
  • Locals marvel at Yo-Yo Ma’s presence in Bowling Green, Kentucky—a “once in a lifetime kind of event” (Speaker B, 00:06).
  • The cave’s mystery amplifies the sense of occasion: “Nobody really knows how big Mammoth Cave is... almost like a parallel universe under the soil” (Ana, 01:51).

2. What Makes Mammoth Cave and This Performance Special

• History and natural power of the cave ([01:51–03:42])
  • Mammoth Cave’s vastness and eons-old geology set the stage.
  • The performance is a world premiere, composed specifically for this site by Teddy Abrams, drawing on the cave’s unique acoustics and history.
• Yo-Yo Ma’s reflections ([02:18])
  • “If you hold a piece of rock that's a million years old, you are actually in contact with something way beyond our present feeling and knowledge.” (Yo-Yo Ma, 02:18)

3. The Creation and Concept of "Mammoth" the Musical Piece

• Composer Teddy Abrams’s mission ([04:42–05:57])
  • Abrams aims to bridge the urban-rural divide in Kentucky through music:

    “My dream was to take the orchestra and bring it to every part of Kentucky with the goal of bridging the urban rural divide through music.”
    (Teddy Abrams, 05:49)

  • The logistical challenge: Abrams, who doesn’t drive, biked over 100 miles from Louisville to the cave, experiencing the physical journey as many would have in the 19th century ([06:33–08:16]):

    “It took about, like, 10 hours... I got chased by dogs left and right. It was exciting.”
    (Abrams, 06:39; 06:56)

• Structure and sensibility of the piece ([08:54–09:53])
  • Inspired by a requiem, honoring all those the cave has held.
  • The audience is gradually led into the cave, greeted by deep percussion, chimes, and Gregorian-esque chant, invoking spiritual ritual ([09:25–09:53]).
  • “The way the piece is structured, actually begins long before you enter into the final room...” (Abrams, 09:07).

4. The Performance: Immersing Art in Nature and History

• Musical immersion in the cave’s space ([10:17–11:44])
  • The audience forms a ring in a limestone chamber, enveloped in music and candlelight—a blend of sacred and natural environments.
  • Singer/narrator Devon Tynes sets a reverent tone:

    “We are together here in this deep place within the earth. This is the realm below.”
    (Devon Tynes, 10:37)

  • The music incorporates “notated improvised water sounds” and the very rocks of the cave, literally playing the earth ([11:57–12:19]):

    “I have a bucket full of rocks.”
    (Percussionist, 12:16)

• Mammoth’s narrative arc ([12:06–13:14])
  • Moves from the creation of the cave to the human stories layered within—prehistoric exploration, enslaved guides, and today’s park community.

5. Jerry Bransford and the Legacy of Black Cave Guides

• History relived on stage ([13:01–15:19])
  • Park guide Johnny Meredith introduces Jerry Bransford, who shares his family’s story:

    “I've got [an] American story I want to share with you about some old kin folks who were in slavery here 185 years ago. It’s an American story.”
    (Bransford, 13:45)

  • Jerry’s ancestors were among the first enslaved cave guides; their names physically inscribed in the cave’s history.
  • Jerry reflects on telling his ancestors’ stories:

    “This is my one opportunity to tell the story in a way that maybe it’s never been told before. And that's what I try to do.”
    (Bransford, 14:34)

6. The Painful Transition to National Park Status

• Removal and segregation ([24:14–27:19])
  • In the 1920s–40s, the government seized 45,000 acres for the park, forcing out 600 families—both Black and White.
  • The Bransfords lost their land, hotel, and livelihoods; Black guides were barred from service after the park’s opening under segregation.

    “Fourth generation guide, and now you are a pick and shovel guy... It just breaks my heart.”
    (Bransford, 26:14)

  • Jerry describes visiting Mammoth as a child in segregated Kentucky, longing to wear the ranger uniform he saw on white guides ([27:10–27:54]).

7. Preserving and Reclaiming Black History in the Cave

• Enduring legacy and literal signatures ([28:21–30:10])
  • Despite erasure above ground, the names of Black guides endure underground, scratched into the limestone—evidence of belonging against official forgetting.

    “The cave never forgot.”
    (Ana, 29:48)

  • Yo-Yo Ma muses:

    “To put your name in a cave, that's to say, you know, I was there... you're building the scaffolding of your life way into the next century, right?”
    (Yo-Yo Ma, 29:57)

• A return generations later
  • In 2004, Jerry Bransford becomes a park guide, donning the uniform denied to his father:

    “Perhaps this closes that gap a little bit.”
    (Bransford, 30:51)

8. Music, Memory, and Reconciliation

• Performance of “Deep River” ([32:36–34:42])
  • In a moving finale, Jerry sings "Deep River," an African American spiritual alluding both to the biblical Jordan and Ohio rivers—symbols of hope and freedom.
  • Devon Tynes joins, their voices echoing through the stone:

    “Deep river Lord, help me cross over to the other side.”
    (Devon and Jerry, 33:06–34:42)

• Recognition and permanence of legacy
  • Jerry reveals a cave passage is now named “Jerry Bransford’s Way”:

    “My name should remain on the cave passageways forever.”
    (Bransford, 34:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the cave’s enduring history:

  “The cave itself is just rock dust. But within those seemingly inert walls, the air holds eons of stories.”
  (Ana, 01:51)

• On music’s power:

  “Music... can lock in time through how powerful a present moment is felt.”
  (Yo-Yo Ma, 03:42)

• On the ordeal and epiphany of biking to the cave:

  “It gave me the perspective of a lot of the people who would have experienced getting from place to place in the 19th century... it needed to be respectful and honest, honor the circumstances of the people that have made Mammoth Cave what it is to this day.”
  (Teddy Abrams, 07:48)

• Jerry Bransford on family loss during slavery:

  “Men don't supposed to cry but sometime I'll go down in that cave to the river where don't nobody see me. I cried my eyes out.”
  (Bransford, 20:40)

• On being barred from guiding:

  “Fourth generation guide, and now you are a pick and shovel guy in a cave working to build trails that you have walked over for 30 years. It just breaks my heart.”
  (Bransford, 26:14)

• On reclaiming his family's legacy:

  “Perhaps this closes that gap a little bit.”
  (Bransford, 30:51)

• Ana’s insight on history and belonging:

  “To me, it's as simple as saying, like, yeah, I was here. I mattered. I'm part of history, and if no one's gonna write it, I'm gonna write it because I have the ability to do that.”
  (Ana, 30:10)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:06 – Local anticipation: “once in a lifetime kind of event”
• 01:51 – Introduction to Mammoth Cave’s scale and mystery
• 05:49 – Teddy Abrams’s musical vision for Kentucky
• 08:54 – Origins and structure of the piece, a requiem for the cave's histories
• 09:25–09:53 – The immersive entrance procession into the cave
• 13:45–14:34 – Jerry Bransford recounts his family's enslaved history
• 20:40 – The grief of family separation during slavery
• 24:19–26:14 – Forced removals for national park and loss of Black guide jobs
• 28:21–29:48 – Discovery of names etched in the cave—legacy endures
• 30:51 – Jerry as a cave guide in the modern era; closing the circle
• 33:06–34:42 – The emotional performance of “Deep River” in the cave

Tone & Style

• Reflective, personal, reverent: The episode blends lush sound design with the hushed awe of both nature and history, and moments of emotional catharsis.
• Combines narrative, interview, and immersive description: Moving between Ana’s evocative storytelling, candid interviews, and the sounds of the cave and music itself.

For Listeners

This episode is not just about a unique concert, but about deep, lived connections—between people and landscape, between past and present. It brings forgotten histories into the light, using music as both witness and bridge. Recommended for anyone interested in American history, race and memory, music, or the natural world.

Further Resources Mentioned

• Making Their Mark: The Signature of Slavery at Mammoth Cave by Joy Lyons
• Louisville Orchestra projects: louisvilleorchestra.org
• Our Common Nature EP featuring Yo-Yo Ma available on streaming platforms

Looking Ahead

Next episode: “We go to the Smoky Mountains to meet two Cherokee women and the son of a jazz great who are working on reclaiming their histories.”