WENDY REID’S AMBIENT BIRD

Ambient Bird – Shorebird Park  (premiere)

with sfSOUND, bird ensemble

&  the dailybell* at sunset

musicians:

Lulu, african grey parrot

Wendy Reid, violin

Brenda Hutchinson, long tube

Krys Bobrowski, glisglass

Aurora Josephson, voice

Ron Heglin, tuba

David Samas, percussion

Kanoko Nishi, koto

Ben Davis, cello

Matt Ingalls, clarinet

Kyle Bruckmann, oboe

John Ingle, saxophone

Wendy Reid’s site-specific work, ‘Ambient Bird-Shorebird Park’ is a 44-minute interspecies sonic landscape which reflects an ecocentric philosophy of connecting with all living creatures and the environment. The ensemble includes experimental musicians and a bird  working with the ambient sounds, specifically, the birds of Shorebird Park: Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, Black-necked Stilts, American Avocets, Sanderlings, American Rock Pigeons, Pacific Loons, American Crows, Yellow-billed Magpies, Common Ravens, and Wild Turkeys  (among others)

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.

This site-specific piece, as with the first incantation, ‘Ambient Bird 433’,  pays homage to John Cage’s composition, 4’33”(1952).

*At sunset, immediately following the performance, Brenda Hutchinson leads everyone in bell-ringing:  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:  Shorebird Park,  160 University Ave, Berkeley, CA. There is no formal seating: the audience sits on the grass, stands, or wanders

About the site:  Shorebird Park was originally the land of the Ohlone people, who consider their connection to the earth 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.

Special Thanks to City of Berkeley-Shallon Allen,  Matt Ingalls-sfSOUND, Phil Perkins-location engineer, Silvia Matheus-videographer, Edward Morse-technical assistance,  & the musicians of Ambient Bird-Shorebird Park.

This performance is made possible with a civic arts grant from the City of Berkeley, and Is part of a  project entitled ‘Ambient Bird-Berkeley’ (2025-26)

Location: Shorebird Park, 160 University Ave Berkeley, CA 94704 United States