Trees.Listen

A co-composition environmental project
by SHARLENE WALLACE & FRANK HORVAT

Pre-save Trees.Listen HERE

TREES.LISTEN: Music for Harp and Electronics
MUSICIANS: Sharlene Wallace (Celtic lever harp)
COMPOSED BY: Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace
PRODUCED BY: Frank Horvat, Jean Martin and Sharlene Wallace
HARP RECORDED AT: Union Sound, Toronto, ON Canada, by Darren McGill, July 19-21, 2024
HARP LOOPS RECORDED AT: THE FARM, Toronto, ON Canada, by Jean Martin, 2023-2024
EDITED, MIXED, MASTERED BY: Jean Martin
COVER PHOTO ART: Sharlene Wallace
ALBUM PACKAGING: Lisa Horvat
LABEL: I Am Who I Am Records
RELEASE DATE: 4 Oct 2024

“Trees.Listen is an immersive sonic journey, inspired by the profound knowledge of acclaimed botanist and climate change visionary Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger and her book, To Speak for the Trees. The soundscape comes to life with the intimate and evocative tones of the Celtic lever harp, fused with meticulously crafted electronic atmosphere. Experience the resonance of trees through the harp’s voice as every movement captures the spirit and wisdom of each tree. Trees.Listen is a musical storytelling experience that weaves the ancient past with modern sound design, offering a new way of “listening” to the planet.

This music is rooted in letters from the ancient Celtic Ogham script, a medieval alphabet that named each letter for a tree. This is how important trees were to the ancient Celts. Trees.Listen has chosen a musical alphabet note, A B C D E F G or H (B), to be the predominant note heard in each piece, connecting the music to the tree inspiring the letter name.

By marrying the traditional harp with electronic textures, we’ve created a unique sonic landscape where the old and the new collide, reflecting our evolving relationship with nature. It’s about remembering that trees are more than just passive elements of nature—they’re living beings that have the power to heal and sustain us, both physically and spiritually.
    – Frank Horvat, composer
” – frankhorvat.com

September through to November, 2024.
Experience and listen to Trees.Listen among the trees at The Arboretum in Guelph Ontario.
This map will take you to 9 QR codes located throughout The Arboretum. Each QR code is at a specific tree from Trees.Listen and you can access the recording by scanning the QR code with your smart phone and listening (with earbuds may be a preferred listening experience)…

QR codes await you at The Arboretum, Guelph, Ontario.

Trees.Listen took root on September 6th, 2024
at The Arboretum, University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario.

Sharlene Wallace and Frank Horvat are thrilled and so grateful to The Arboretum in Guelph, Ontario to have included Trees.Listen in their Arb Expo on September 6-7, 2024. They hosted the premiere performance on September 6 as well as installations of Trees.Listen on the 7th AND three months of listening to Trees.Listen through posted QR codes as you walk through the Arboretum!
Here are the details:

Friday September 6th at 7pm: PERFORMANCE
Sharlene performed the world premiere of Trees.Listen, our 9-part composition inspired by the writings of Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger and the Celtic tree-based Ogham alphabet. Tickets HERE.
at the Guelph Arboretum
OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre
200 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, ON

Saturday September 7th: SOUND INSTALLATION
There was a special outdoor sound installation featured at the Arboretum’s Expo: Tree Day! + Plant Sale featuring audio speakers immersed within 3 different sites on the Arboretum grounds. Frank and Sharlene also gave a “Tree Music Walk” at 1pm.

Trees.Listen

Trees.Listen is a collaboration, a sound exploration, 9 compositions, an album, a sound installation and a message co-created by composers Sharlene Wallace and Frank Horvat.

Through co-composed music for the Celtic lever harp and fixed electronics, Sharlene and Frank have brought together their unique relationships and experiences with music, sound, genre, creativity and the environment. Trees.Listen is a collection of nine compositions for (Celtic) Harp and Electronics, a sound quest envisioned to connect us to trees, a fundamental part of human existence and survival on this planet.

This music suite is inspired by the enlightening book, To Speak for the Trees, by acclaimed medical biochemist and botanist, Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger. Diana has a unique experience of western scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge from the ancient world. Orphaned in Ireland in her youth, she was educated by elders who instructed her in the Brehon knowledge of plants and nature.

The music that Sharlene and Frank have composed is based on different letters from the ancient Celtic Ogham script, a medieval alphabet that named each letter for a type of tree (this is how important trees were to the ancient Celts). The nine letters chosen are the seven music notes A B C D E F G and H (B-flat). There will be two compositions written for the letter D for the mighty Oak tree. 

Using the birch tree, here is how it works!
The letter B is for the Celtic word, “Beith”, which means “Birch”. The Birch composition includes a predominance of the musical note B throughout the composition. The connection of the musical pitch B and of the birch tree’s essence, information and stories that Diana has shared about each tree, give each composition its own unique musical character, just as each tree does.

Sharlene and Frank implemented a unique multi-phase process to create this new music.

Phase 1 they recorded samples/loops of Sharlene with their collaborator, Jean Martin. This began during the Fall 2022 for BIRCH and HAZEL. In April 2023, the loops for OAK and PINE were recorded, this time with Sharlene’s beautiful new custom-made Mark Norris lever harp from Scotland. In the Fall 2023, recording of the loops (samples) was completed for the remaining 5 trees.
Phase 2, Frank used these samples as the foundation for composing electronic bed-tracks.
Phase 3, Sharlene composed a live harp part on top of those bed-tracks.
Phase 4, Sharlene and Frank convene to fine-tune the compositions and record a demo recording.
Phase 5, Sharlene records her live harp parts.
Phase 6, Editing, mixing and mastering of the album.

Phases 2 to 4 for BIRCH and HAZEL were completed in November 2022, and in August 2023 Sharlene presented the world premiere performance of BIRCH and HAZEL in Wells, British Columbia accompanied by projections of photography by Sharlene.

Sharlene and Frank completed Phases 2 to 4 for the remaining seven tree-pieces during the Winter and Spring of 2024.

July 2024 Sharlene recorded the live harp parts at Union Sound in Toronto.

This process and outcome have been magical.

GRATITUDE: Sharlene & Frank are over-the-moon grateful to have received a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to complete the process of co-composing, recording, and sharing our suite of pieces for solo lever harp and fixed electronics! The CCA’s funding complements the funding already received from the Ontario Arts Council and a group of Sharlene’s students who commissioned one of the nine pieces, Oak 1. We are so grateful to all of our funders as their support has been invaluable in creating and completing this very special project in its entirety.

Trees.Listen supports Diana Beresford-Kroeger’s vision that trees are a fundamental part of our existence and survival on this planet and that they are something to be worshipped and protected. Sharlene and Frank have been fortunate to receive Diana’s enthusiastic support for their project. Diana is a passionate individual who envisions a better world, with more trees! Sharlene and Frank are deeply grateful for Diana’s beautiful support throughout the creation of Trees.Listen and beyond.

“Trees offer us the solution to nearly every problem facing humanity today, from defending against drug resistance to halting global temperature rise…They do so even when we can’t or won’t hear them. We once knew how to listen. It’s a skill we must remember.” – Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger

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