Free Outdoor Bird Ensemble + Sunset Bell Ringing 2026 (Berkeley)

Ariel Tingley

ambient bird – live oak 2026

tuesday september 22 – 6:15pm
live oak park: 1301 shattuck ave, berkeley
location: near the creek, under the trees
no formal seating: sit on the stone steps,
stand, wander, bring a blanket or chair

sfSOUND musicians join the bird ensemble
in an outdoor fall equinox performance of
wendy reid’s ambient bird-live oak 2026,
with brenda hutchinson’s dailybell at sunset

musicians:
lulu, african grey parrot
wendy reid, violin
brenda hutchinson, long tube
krys bobrowski, gilsglas
aurora josephson, voice
ron heglin, tuba
david samas, percussion
ben davis, cello
matt Ingalls, clarinet
diane grubbe, flute
john ingle, saxophone
david michalak, skatchbirds
dailybell, everyone

info at treepieces.net

AMBIENT BIRD – LIVE OAK 2026

Wendy Reid’s Ambient Bird-Live Oak is in its fifth year of what is now an annual event on the fall equinox: a 44-minute interspecies sonic landscape which reflects an eco-centric philosophy of connecting with all living creatures and the environment.The ensemble includes an African Grey parrot and experimental musicians working with the ambient sounds, specifically, the birds of Live Oak Park: Northern Mockingbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Bewick’s Wrens, Western Bluebirds, Anna’s Hummingbirds, Western Scrub-Jays, American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos, Oak Titmice, Stone Pigeons, American Crows -all part of an event that is intended to bring everyone and everything together, and honor the park’s indigenous inhabitants, the Ohlone People.

The structure of this work can be described as a musical process which attempts to reflect nature’s manner of operations: a spatially notated score of sonic fragments transcribed from bird-human interactions and a Native American chant is interpreted and performed by the musicians within the ambient environment of Live Oak Park. Contextual in nature, the work allows performers to act according to unpredictable conditions and variables which arise within the musical continuity. In performance, an attempt is made at a spontaneous unforced growing of sound and silence in which emphasis is placed on formation rather than pre-established form, as in the building and shaping of cell-like units in living processes.

This site-specific piece, as with the first incantation,‘Ambient Bird 433’, pays homage to John Cage’s ambient silent composition 4’33”(1952).

At sunset, immediately following the performance (without a break), Brenda Hutchinson leads everyone in bell-ringing: created by sound artist Brenda Hutchinson in 2008, Dailybell is an ongoing aspirational project based on the premise that something as inarguable as the movement of the Earth can be used as a point of unity and awareness among groups of people who might otherwise find it impossible to agree.

About the site: Live Oak Park was originally the land of the Ohlone people, who consider their connection to the land to be sacred. It remains a place of cultural significance that people protect and recognize its history. It is the hope of many that one day it will be returned to its indigenous inhabitants.

Special Thanks: City of Berkeley-Shallon Allen, Silvia Matheus-videographer,
Phil Perkins-location audio engineer, Edward Morse-tech, Andrew Aldrich-photography,
Matt Ingalls-sfSOUND, and the musicians of Ambient Bird-Live Oak 2026

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.