Arts House Listening Program

This post show Q&A was recorded on the 12th September 2015. The signs are there: over the past few decades, humanity’s 5000-year collaboration with the honey bee has been building toward a grim conclusion. If we fail to heed their warning, could we be casually swept into the fossil record alongside them? Dance of the Bee is a remarkable interspecies musical collaboration: a work performed by three pianists, the vocalists of the Astra Choir and a live swarm of bees, housed inside a sculpted, transparent hive. Woven through the mysterious song of the bees, the pieces range from soundscapes to intense virtuosic arrangements, punctuated by semi- improvised sonic excursions. As the bees sing, live video allows us to observe the marvel of the hive at work – and to ponder on the fragile connection between our world and theirs. Composed by Martin Friedel Piano/Prepared Piano Michael Kieran Harvey, Peter Dumsday, Joy Lee The Astra Improvising Choir Directed by Joan Pollock The Astra Choir Directed by John McCaughey