Ambient Bird-Indian Rock, with the bird ensemble & dailybell*
the bird ensemble:
Lulu, African Grey parrot
Wendy Reid, violin
Brenda Hutchinson, long tube
Krys Bobrowski, glisglas
Ron Heglin, tuba
Jacob Felix Heule, percussion
Program:
Wendy Reid's site-specific work Ambient Bird-Indian Rock is a 44-minute interspecies sonic environment that invites humans, animals, and nature to come together in a shared experience of sound, silence, and connection. The ambient landscape and experimental musicians, with traditional and invented instruments, create a collaborative and inclusive space where all are welcome to listen, engage and contribute to the evolving soundscape.
The structure of this work can be described as a musical process which attempts to reflect nature’s manner of operations: a spatially notated score of sonic fragments transcribed from bird-human interactions is interpreted and performed by the musicians within the ambient environment.
Contextual in nature, the work allows performers to act according to unpredictable conditions and variables which arise within the musical continuity. In performance, an attempt is made at a spontaneous unforced growing of sound and silence in which emphasis is placed on formation rather than pre-established form, as in the building and shaping of cell-like units in living processes. (treepieces.net)
This site-specific piece, as with the first incantation,‘Ambient Bird 433’, pays homage to John Cage’s composition 4’33”(1952).
**dailybell: At the end of the performance, at sunset, Brenda Hutchinson will lead everyone in bell-ringing , celebrating the Spring Equinox.
Dailybell, created by composer and sound artist Brenda Hutchinson in 2008, is an ongoing aspirational project based on the premise that something as inarguable as the movement of the Earth can be used as a point of unity and awareness among groups of people who might otherwise find it impossible to agree.
Location: Indian Rock Park
950 Indian Rock Ave, Berkeley -the performance site will be located just to the left of the rock. There is no formal seating: stand, wander, sit on the grass or on top of the rock.
About the site: Indian Rock Park was originally the land of the Ohlone people, who consider their connection to the rocks to be sacred. It remains a place of cultural significance that people protect and recognize its history. It is the hope of many that one day it will be returned to its indigenous inhabitants, the Ohlone people.
Special Thanks to City of Berkeley-Shallon Allen, Phil Perkins-location engineer, Edward Morse-technical assistance & the musicians of Ambient Bird-Indian Rock