“If music be the food of love, play on; give me excess of it,” said Shakespeare. And, indeed there was such an intoxicating festival of music in the city on Thursday at the “sound art” show combining birdsong with man-made music, creating a symphony which opened a door to nature.
The music and photography show was in town as part of the Sky Island Beatbox research project at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru. It has brought together New York beat boxer Ben Mirin, ornithologist V.V. Robin and wildlife photographer Prasenjeet Yadav on a mission to communicate the story of birds on the Western Ghats using music as a medium.
The big audience mostly comprised students at St. Teresa’s College.
The programme was organised in collaboration with the State Department of Forests.
Mr. Mirin described himself as “a vocal acrobat”, said that birds were amazing musicians and played the sound of the laughing thrush over the hum of man-made music.
He said that bird song and photography show opened up the world of Western Ghats. “You connect with nature with bird music”, he said.
The show was enthusiastically received, the audience constantly cheering Mr. Mirin and responding to his questions.
Mr. Robin briefly explained the music of different birds and how they differed from one sky island to another. Sky islands are mountaintops which are habitats for different species of birds. Climate change had impacted their lives and the Western Ghats were witness to it.
Mr. Yadav described his life as a photographer and highlighted his experience of birds being great observers of their neighbours.
