Lake Nezahualcóyotl is a reservoir in Chiapas (Mexico), created as part of a hydroelectric power scheme. The dam was completed in 1966, and the area around the original lake flooded. Just a year earlier a similar flooding drowned the village of Capel Celyn in Wales (UK), controversially displacing its Welsh-speaking residents. At both lakes, droughts cause the periodic re-emergence of the drowned buildings, with increasing regularity: a 16th-century church at Lake Nezahualcóyotl and the ruins of the Welsh village. In Wales, these appearances re-awaken painful memories of past injustices, but they are also a very present reminder of the crisis of climate change, in Mexico, Wales and across the globe.

Zan yehuan,
Ipal nemohua.
Ninentlamatia,
¿ac azo aic ic?
¿Ac azo aic?
[…]
In zan tictlazotzetzelohua,
in motechpa ye huitz in monecuiltonol,
¡Ipal nemohua!
…

Only he,
the Giver of Life.
Vain wisdom had I,
Did no-one know?
No-one?
[…]
Precious realities make it rain,
from you comes your happiness,
Giver of life!
…

— Nezahualcóyotl (1402–1472)

[vi-26]

Two Lakes was realized in 2023 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of Bangor University (Wales, UK) and premiered on March 10, 2023 at the 19th festival Visiones Sonoras organized by the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS) in the Auditorio de la Unidad Académica Cultural of the UNAM Campus Morelia (Mexico). Materials in the piece were shaped using water level and flow data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (EU) and the National River Flow Archive (UK). I am indebted to Dr Iestyn Woolway of Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences for his assistance in accessing and understanding the data. Two Lakes was awarded the biennial Prix CIME at the General Assembly of the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (ICEM) (Rethymno, Greece, 2023).

Premiere

• March 10, 2023, Visiones Sonoras 19: Concierto 5, Auditorio — Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras, Morelia (Mexico)

Awards

• Prize, Prix CIME 2023
• Finalist, Fixed medium, MA/IN 2023, Matera (Italy)
• Special Mention, Ars Electronica Forum Wallis 2024, Leuk (Switzerland)