AMBIENT BIRD-LIVE OAK 2025
with sfSOUND, the bird ensemble,
and the dailybell at sunset
September 22, 2025 - 6pm
musicians:
Lulu, African Grey parrot
Wendy Reid, violin
Krys Bobrowski, gilsglas
Brenda Hutchinson, long tube
Aurora Josephson, voice
Ron Heglin, tuba
David Samas, percussion
Kanoko Nishi, koto
Ben Davis, cello
Diane Grubbe, flute
Matt Ingalls, clarinet
Brendan Lai-Tong, trombone
John Ingle, saxophone
David Michalak, skatch birds
dailybell, everyone
Wendy Reid’s site-specific work ‘Ambient Bird-Live Oak' is in its fourth year of what is now an annual event on the fall equinox: a 44-minute interspecies sonic landscape which reflects an eco-centric philosophy of connecting with all living creatures and the environment. The ensemble includes experimental musicians working with the ambient sounds, specifically, the birds of Live Oak Park: Mourning Doves, Black Phoebes, American Robins, Steller's Jays, Western Scrub-Jays, California Towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Oak Titmice, American Crows, Yellow-billed Magpies and Common Ravens (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, 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: Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA, under the trees, near the creek. There is no formal seating: the audience sits on the stone steps or grass, stands, or wanders.
About the site: Live Oak 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, and the musicians of ‘Ambient Bird-Live Oak’
This performance is made possible with a Civic Arts Grant from the City of Berkeley