Birdsong: Music, Nature and the Art of Listening

Birdsong is a four-event series exploring the connections between music, birds, listening, and the natural world. Audiences are invited to experience birdsong from different perspectives—from listening to birds in their own habitats to discovering how composers and artists have translated the sounds and presence of birds into music. Together, the events encourage us to listen more closely to the more-than-human world and reconsider our relationship with the environments and species around us.

Presented as part of Climate and the Arts Celebrating Gaia 2026 Series and the SALT New Music Festival 2026. Admission by donation. More information and tickets here.

Birdsong: Listening and Watching Walk — Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 am
Uplands Park, 3040 Beach Dr, Victoria, BC

Join expert birder Geoffrey Newell for a guided walk during peak fall migration, combining birdwatching, attentive listening, and moments of live music in one of Victoria’s richest bird habitats in partnership with the Friends of Uplands Park.

Birdsong: Morning Concert — Sunday, Sept. 13, 8 am
Mount Tolmie Park, 3492 Mayfair Dr, Victoria, BC

Musicians of the SALT Experiment perform new miniature works inspired by British Columbia birds, allowing composed music to mingle with birdsong, wind, trees, and the sounds of the waking city.

Birdsong: When Nature Speaks — Sunday, Sept. 13, 6 pm
UVic School of Music, Room B037

Artists Tina Pearson and Paul Walde revisit their Music for Natural History project through images, sound, video, and conversation, exploring how artistic practice can transform the ways we listen to and represent the natural world.

Birdsong: Evening Concert — Sunday, Sept. 13, 7:30 pm
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall, University of Victoria

The SALT Experiment brings new bird-inspired miniatures into dialogue with music by Vivaldi, Couperin, Cage, Respighi, Messiaen, and Hosokawa in an immersive music-theatre journey through the sounds and musical imagination of birds.