WENDY REID’S AMBIENT BIRD-INDIAN ROCK 2026
sfSOUND joins the bird ensemble in a Spring Equinox outdoor performance of Ambient Bird-Indian Rock 2026, with Brenda Hutchinson’s Dailybell at sunset
Friday March 20- 6:30pm at Indian Rock Park: 950 Indian Rock Ave, Berkeley, CA
-there is no formal seating so bring a blanket, chair, or sit on the rock
musicians:
Lulu, African Grey parrot
Wendy Reid, violin
Brenda Hutchinson, long tube
Krys Bobrowski, glisglas
Ron Heglin, tuba
Kanoko Nishi, koto
Tom Djll, trumpet
Brendan Lai-Tong, trombone
Matt Ingalls, clarinet
John Ingle, saxophone
David Michalak, skatchbirds
Ambient Bird - Indian Rock 2026 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. Among the many species of birds at Indian Rock, there are Bewick's Wrens, Dark-eyed Juncos, Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Anna's Hummingbirds, California Scrub-Jays, American Crows, and various raptors.
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 of Indian Rock. 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).
Dailybell: immediately after the performance, at sunset, Brenda Hutchinson leads everyone in bell-ringing, celebrating the Spring Equinox: created by composer and sound artist Brenda Hutchinson in 2008, Dailybell 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.
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.
This performance is included in ‘Ambient Bird-Berkeley’ (2025-26), a project supported in part by a Civic Arts Grant from the City of Berkeley