BioFONIKA

Decibel new music ensemble is working with composers Hollis Taylor and Jon Rose to create a major new composition and performance inspired by Australian birdsong. BioFONIKA is a work that explores Australian birdsong via field recordings and electronic transformations, text about birds, and transcriptions performed by musicians. The live performance w ill be presented in a unique, spatially distributed presentation where sound will envelop the audience, creating a spectacular listening experience where we contemplate our relationship to our precious, and often endangered, avian friends.Decibel will play within and around recordings of birds and their environments, human stories of interactions with birds, and transcriptions of their song created by Taylor and Rose. The work will be premiered in 2027 at the Derksen Studio at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts new campus in Perth, followed by a season at the David Li Sound Gallery in Melbourne.

A call out for sound recordings of and about Australian birds

As part of this project, we invite the public to contribute a citizen‑science component – your own audio recordings of birds you have experienced, to be featured in and/or transcribed for the performance.We welcome audio recordings capturing:

– Australian birdsong
– Spoken stories about memorable encounters with birds
– Historic or archival recordings connected to Australian birdsongYour recording should be:– Between 1 and 5 minutes
– In a .wav or .aiff format
– Include your name, location of the recording, the type of bird (if you know it), the time or recording, date and any other information you’d like us to know at the end of the recording.
– Upload your recording and accompanying information by 30 May 2026.

For more information and to upload, visit the Decibel website.