The Miami University Natural Areas and Four Mile Creek made their debut in "The River" — the Miami Men's Glee Club's first professional music video. 

Jeremy D. Jones, Fisher-Holoviak Endowed Professor of Music, is artistic director and conductor of the Glee Club. "The River,' with music by Susan LaBarr and lyrics by Bill Cairns, was commissioned by the ensemble in 2018, to premiere at the 2019 National Collegiate Choral Conference in Maryland. While the piece has been performed widely, the video and its setting in the Natural Areas enhances the storytelling and timeless message of the song. 

"The River" music video was produced by Los Angeles-based Ryan Parma, director, and Shams Ahmed, creative director. 

It was filmed last fall and released this past spring. 

Video producers, director Ryan Parmer and creative director Shams Ahmed — the first Bangladeshi /American to win an Emmy for producing content — came to Oxford to look at possible locations for filming both inside and outdoors. 

Based in Los Angeles, they are not used to "nature in the backyard," Jones said. With their fresh eyes exploring Miami's beautiful campus, they were "in awe" when they discovered the Natural Areas. 

The locations for filming included Four Mile Creek and nearby parts of Marcum Woods, and the Helen S. Ruder Preserve, part of the Three Valley Conservation Trust that links to the Marcum Woods trail.

Footage was also filmed in Hall Auditorium.

During filming, the singers and musicians connected with a large sycamore tree next to Four Mile Creek. 

Lyrics by Bill Cairns are embedded in the scene:

"I grew from boy to man along the river.

My roots grew tangled with the willow tree.

The rocks and sand and mud were my foundation.

I thought the water flowed only for me."

Cairns, selected by composer Susan Labarr, worked with the Ottawa River (Illinois) Rescue Squad, a volunteer river rescue unit, for 35 years. 

"The River" composition includes a bluegrass band as "the ‘voice’ for calling them back home to the journey," Jones explained.  

Local musicians brought a community aspect to the video. They included Dale Farmer, dobro (director of the film "The Mountain Minor"); Judy Waldron, guitar, and Warren Waldron, mandolin. 

The Waldrons performed with the Glee Club in the first performance of the "The River" at the National Collegiate Choral Conference in 2019. 

Sarah Brashears, art director for the video, had the vision to outfit the ensemble as well as the piano, to ‘bring the piano to life," Jones said. 

Bringing the piano to the setting in Four Mile Creek was a logistical challenge. "We needed an old upright piano for the video. Caleb (Caleb Orr '21, assistant artistic director of the Glee Club) found five on Facebook marketplace and sent photos to Shams and Ryan. They chose the one they wanted to use. We picked it up in a truck and stored it in the loading dock area of (Fisher Innovation) College@Elm for Sarah to transform into a piece of art," Jones explained. 

To move the piano to the site, a removable frame was built around it to distribute the weight evenly. A team of eight could easily lift the piano in its frame. The crew of eight, with spotters, moved it into a U-Haul trailer, unloaded at the Ruder Preserve and carefully walked it down the trail and into the creek.

After filming, "the eight guys and spotters carried it back out of woods, to the U-Haul, and over to Hall Auditorium" for additional filming, Jones said. 

The professional crew arrived in Oxford on Oct. 20, 2025, to set up lighting and equipment. Filming began at Marcum Woods by 7:30 a.m. the next day. 

The nearby Marcum Conference Center was used as the green room for hair, makeup, and costumes.

"The River" was released April 16, 2026. Jones arranged a watch party with the students involved, their parents, alumni, and other cast members.  

It was such a remarkable journey and accomplishment to bring this to life with all these professionals," Jones said. 

"The river holds the secrets of a lifetime.

Its depths and shallows swirl with mystery.

Through flood or drought, the water follows one law.

'Flow on' to the everlasting sea.”

Four Mile Creek flows through the Miami University Natural Areas to the Great Miami River, on to the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. 

On campus,  Western Upper and Lower Ponds temporarily hold stormwater runoff from surrounding buildings and paved areas. At an elevation of 863 feet above sea level, pond water that is not evaporated or used for irrigation continues to flow downhill past the side of Young Hall, across Western Campus, to Collins Creek, where it joins Four Mile Creek on its way to the sea. 

"Part of that river still pumps deep inside of me."  (From "The River" music by Susan LaBarr, lyrics by Bill Cairns).