On June 14th, 2025 I am honoured for the opportunity to perform, once again, Trees.Listen, written by Frank Horvat and myself for Celtic harp and electronics, in Exeter, Ontario for Huron Waves Music Festival.
This project is very special to me, and this upcoming event will be made even more special with the presence and contribution of author and botanist Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, the inspiration behind Trees.Listen. My photo-video projections will also be shown throughout the concert.
Here is a sampling of the music and projections that I put together from the video of Ailm-Pine and the inaugural performance at the Arboretum in Guleph, ON (September 6, 2024).
Huron Waves Music Festival
SATURDAY JUNE 14th 1:00-4:00pm
Listen To the Trees – Honouring Nature through Visual Art, Literature and Music
at Exeter Curling Club
205 Riverside Drive, Exter, ON
Join in a conversation and concert journey blending music and environmental awareness:
- Spend the afternoon with Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger (botonist, biochemist, biologist, and the inspiration for Trees.Listen through her book To Speak for the Trees) in conversation with Lakeshore Eco-Network’s Pat Morden. Then experience the tree-inspired concert, Trees.Listen, featuring Celtic harpist Sharlene Wallace performing the evocative music she co-created with Frank Horvat, interpreting nine Ontario trees through live and electronic music and photographs. A Q& A will follow.
INFO | TICKETS General Admission $40 • Youth Admission FREE
The following is Huron Waves Music Festival’s Artistic Director, John Miller’s newsletter about Listen to the Trees events:
LISTEN TO THE TREES by John Miller, AD of Huron Waves Music Festival
As I type this message, a TV announcer is saying that every Canadian province is reporting a dangerous forest fire setting. Could there be a more important time than right now to pay attention to our environment, quite literally to Listen to the Trees?
There are several poems with variations on the title, The Forest’s Lament, but I found this one and, without the permission of the unnamed author, I’m revising and including it here because it speaks to the current situation of our forests and thus to the focus of Huron Waves’ presentation on June 14 at 1pm at the Exeter Curling Club.
The harp strings weep where trees once stood,
Their low notes carved from ancient wood.
The breeze conducts a ghostly choir—
Of crackling leaves and fading fire.
Birdsong turns to silence deep,
As roots and rivers start to weep.
Yet in this sorrow, truth is clear:
We must protect what we hold dear.
So pluck the tune the forest penned,
Let music guide us to defend.
Each note a call, each chord a plea—
To guard the earth, the sky, the tree. – anonymous
Huron Waves’ Listen to the Trees is not just a concert; it’s an experience that weaves sound and story, music and message, and invites our audience to reconnect with the forests that breathe life into our world.
At 1pm, we begin with the internationally distinguished ecologist/author/advocate, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, who will be in conversation with Pat Morden, herself a leader in environmental awareness through both the Lakeshore Eco-Network and her commitment to appreciating and protecting the forests of our region. They’ll speak about the wonders of forests and the critical role they play in sustaining life on Earth – from the quiet wisdom of ancient oaks to the life-giving pulse of the rainforest.
Then our program turns to the music as co-composers Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace express the inspiration they have personally gained from Dr. Beresford-Kroeger’s writings in their new Canadian composition titled Trees.Listen. Frank and Sharlene have composed a suite of nine movements that musically interpret various species of trees, most to be found here in Southwest Ontario. Sharlene, one of Canada’s preeminent harpists, plays the work live, accompanied by fixed electronics and revolving photos of the trees over the four seasons.
Frank has said that “…Trees.Listen supports Diana’s vision that trees are a fundamental part of our existence and survival on this planet and that they are to be worshipped and protected.”
Sharlene has described Trees.Listen as “…an immersive sonic journey that expresses the resonance of trees through the Celtic lever harp’s voice…a musical storytelling…a new way of listening to the planet.”
For Diana, this performance of Trees.Listen will be the first time she has experienced the work. She is travelling from eastern Ontario specifically to be with us at Huron Waves. Myself, I recently experienced Trees.Listen. I found it distinctive, moving, to be remembered.
May I recommend that you join us on June 14 at 1pm at the Exeter Curling Club to enjoy this singular program yourself, even better with a friend or guest! And if you can add the Friday night (June 13) intergeneration walk led by staff of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority to your weekend, HERE are the full details
BUY TICKETS.
Till we’re together again… remember that Music Connects Us.
John A. Miller, Artistic Director, Huron Waves Music Festival
