A Musical Conversation with the Spirit of a Tree

As a synergy of music, storytelling, ecology and spirit, Dryad is a visionary expression of nature interpretation, blending Dr. Sabina Kurz-Sherman's knowlege as a former scientist and ongoing biology professor with Jon Sherman's professional background in the performing arts and decades-long experience as an eco-musician. Through their engaging theatrical presentation, original nature-inspired songs, finger-style guitar, vocal harmonies, and the primal sound of flutes handcrafted from tree branches, Dryad takes you on an enchanting musical journey home to your oneness with the natural world.

Experience Dryad in concert, free to the public, at the Elfin Forest Interpretive Center, 12 noon, first Sunday of every month. Or, at your own Earth-friendly event!

dryadmusicandflutes@gmail.com

“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” ― Aldo Leopold

Music From The Woodland

Dryad also offers a purely instrumental sound, blending the etherial voice of Sabina's Celtic harp sonically dancing like a woodland stream with the primal song of Jon's branch flutes made with the spirit of the tree, remembering, revealing and restoring the enchantment of life.

What a pleasure it was to have you at our event. I heard so many wonderful things about your music from those who were there. I hope you are available to join us again next year.
- Stephanie Bidegain, San Diego Brain Injury Foundation

Jon Sherman's bond with the natural world was kindled at a very young age when the meadow behind his Idaho home shimmered with a welcoming life force. That early seed memory became a guiding light, shaping his path through landscapes both wild and wounded. When his family relocated to Southern California, Jon was drawn to the wild creeks, wetlands, oak woodlands and mountains of this wondrous yet overly used and abused bioregion, grieving what had been lost to insensitive development yet listening for the enchantment that still sang around the scars.

Jon's talents in the performing arts led to a stint as a professional actor at South Coast Repertory Theatre where he performed for two seasons in their hit production of Godspell, also touring Orange and Los Angeles Counties with SCR’s mime and children’s theater troupes. He also toured Italy professionally as the lead tenor in a choral group, and during that tour, when his choir was visiting the town of Assisi, Jon experienced a heart-opening epiphany while meditating inside the Porziuncola, the little chapel that St. Francis had restored.

In 1987, yearning to merge his love of nature with the performing arts, Jon designed and built an outdoor wooden stage under the oaks at Descanso Gardens — another tansformative event in his life. Inspired by the oaks that lenbt their beautfy and shade to his stage, Jon started writing songs of ecological wonder and concern. Embracing his new purpose as a musical voice for nature, he wrote from an eco-centric perspective expressing the natural Self he knew himself to be. After writing January’s June in 1987, a song about environmental imbalance and global warming, Jon pioneered the use of a solar-powered sound system for his performances, to better walk his talk. He has shared this system at hundreds of Earth-friendly events over the years. And, to round our his knowledge of the natural world, Jon recently certified as a California Naturalist.

In 2006, Jon began crafting flutes from tree branches — his Dryad Flutes highly sought after now for their quality of craftsmanship, unique natural beauty and ecological integrity. When Sabina Kurz reached out to request one of his branch flutes, their shared reverence for nature sparked a deep connection and their kindred spirits eventually intertwined through musical partnership and marriage, harmonizing their talents in service to nature.

Sabina Kurz-Sherman has nurtured a lifelong love for music and nature, beginning with classical piano studies as a young girl enchanted by the green forests of Germany. Her early scientific work included biotope mapping as a field biologist and electron microscopy research. Excelling academically, Sabina earned her PhD in biology from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, graduating magna cum laude. As a scientist, Dr. Kurz published fourteen peer-reviewed articles and presented her research at twenty-two national and international conferences.

When her scientific career brought her to the States, Sabina’s heart opened to the beautiful yet increasingly endangered ecology of California — her home for the past twenty-six years. Transitioning to the teaching profession, professor Kurz-Sherman has taught biology, micro-biology and environmental science at the college level for over two decades. She also leads free interpretive walks at the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve where she blends scientific insight with sensory engagement, inspiring participants toward deeper awareness and respect for their natural community. Certified in yoga instruction and shinrin-yoku (“Forest Bathing”), Sabina invites you to walk with her on the third Sunday of each month at Elfin Forest and open your mind and heart to nature.

Musically, Sabina performed for eleven years with the Latin jazz band Cadencia, contributing lead vocals, keyboards and percussion across three recorded albums. Inspired by the beauty and the deep, primal spirit of old-growth forests, she took up the Native American flute to better express her love and concern for the natural world. Upon discovering the branch flutes crafted by Jon Sherman, a musical collaboration blossomed — one that has grown into a shared life and creative partnership.

Sabina also shares the peaceful, healing voice of her Celtic harp on Sundays at Elfin Forest, on Mondays in the beautiful lobby of the Kaiser Permanente San Marcos Medical Center, and potentially at your very special event!