Trees.Listen

Trees.Listen is a collaboration, a sound exploration, 9 compositions, 9 recordings, an album 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 will bring together their unique relationships and experiences with music, sound, genre, creativity and the environment. Trees.Listen will be a collection of nine 5-minute 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 are composing 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 which is 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 will include 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, will give each composition its own unique musical character, just as each tree does.

In October, Sharlene and Frank began the first step in their creative process by recording Sharlene playing harp samples at Jean Martin’s recording studio. Frank then took these samples and used them as a basis to compose electronic bed-tracks. Sharlene then composed a live harp part on top of those bed-tracks. This led to a demo recording of the first of 9 pieces in the suite, combining Frank’s bed-tracks with Sharlene’s solos…the process and outcome is magical!

Sharlene and Frank are grateful for seed money from the Ontario Arts Council for providing us with the initial funds to complete a demo of 2 of the 9 pieces.

We now want to repeat this process of composing and recording all of the pieces in the suite…
and that’s where you come in!

With your generous support, Sharlene and Frank will be able to realize the composing and recording of this album Trees.Listen. This project will also be performed live upon completion.

Sharlene and Frank hope 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 something to be worshipped and protected. We have been fortunate to receive Diana’s enthusiastic support for our endeavour. She is a passionate individual who envisions a better world, with more trees! We’re looking forward to partnering with Diana once the album is released and Sharlene presents live performances.

Your sponsorship gift of $3000 includes:

• Yours or your loved one’s name on the sheet music of your chosen tree.
• 12 trees will be planted in Canada in your or your loved one’s name by One Tree Planted.
• Original photograph of your chosen tree signed by the composers Sharlene and Frank.
• 30-minute private live-streaming event including a performance of your tree by Sharlene and a Q&A with both composers.

Only one sponsorship per tree, so secure your tree early! (First come, first served.) It is also possible to sponsor a tree-composition on behalf of a group.

“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.” – Diana Beresford-Kroeger

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