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48 | NOVEMBER 25 • 2021

western Alaska visited by mil-
lions of birds that migrate each
spring to that biome from as far
away as South Africa and New
Zealand, a journey over vast
expanses of land and water that
covers 56,000 miles round trip.
“Bernie Krause’s work teaches
us that each animal species pos-
sesses its own acoustic animal
signature that, like a musical
instrument in an orchestra,
positions itself both with pre-
cision and subtlety within the
score of the soundscape of the
ecosystem in which it lives,
”
said Hervé Chandès, curator
who worked on the exhibit
introduced in France as com-
missioned by the Foundation

Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
Krause, who tells his story in
a Ted Talk readily accessible on
the web, has information avail-
able for those who can’t travel
to the current display. There are
relevant sites to Google and a
readership opportunity through
the book The Great Animal
Orchestra: Finding the Origins
of Music in the World’s Wild
Places (Little, Brown).

A LIFETIME LOVE
OF SOUND
“I don’t see very well so my
world has been informed
more by what I hear,
” Krause
explained about his career
origins. “I was fascinated with

the music guitars could pro-
duce and studied jazz with Joe
Messina and classical with Joe
Fava.
”
In the transition to the
sounds of nature, Krause pro-
duced more than 50 natural
soundscape albums in addition
to the design of interactive
sound sculptures for respected
presenters. Among the places
showcasing his installations
are the National Museum of
Natural History in Washington,
D.C., the Houston Museum
of Natural Science and the
Chicago Science Museum.
Part of bringing his work into
the 21st century, Krause col-
laborated with Dr. Stuart Gage

at Michigan State University to
introduce the soundscape ecol-
ogy and the value of exploring
natural soundscapes for the
National Park Service.
“I love what I do, and I have
found a way to share the love
of that work with others,
” said
Krause, who grew up mostly
terrified of animals because of
allergies and a confrontation
with ADHD (attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder).
“That said, I’ve been attacked
by a polar bear when camping
and recording bowhead whales
on the shore of the Beaufort Sea
early in my bioacoustic studies.
In the Amazon jungle late one
night, I was stalked by a jaguar,

ARTS&LIFE
EXHIBIT

Details
“The Great Animal Orchestra”
is on display Nov. 20-May
22 at the Peabody Essex
Museum in Salem, Mass.
$12-$20. (866) 745-1976.
pem.org. To access website
videos, go to www.pem.org/
exhibitions/the-great-animal-
orchestra-bernie-krause-and-
united-visual-artists.
Bernie Krause works in the fields to
capture the sounds of nature.

The exhibits present specific soundscapes and
associated spectrograms (graphic visualizations
of what is heard).

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