EarthSonic Live
Be part of EarthSonic Live, an all-day and nighttime event with talks, workshops and unique performances sharing the stories of nature, climate, and biodiversity through music at Manchester Museum.
Throughout the day, there will be a series of talks, workshops and unique performances sharing the stories of nature, climate, and biodiversity through music. They’re all free to join and you can book your place below.
In the evening, we’ll host an intimate and immersive live event featuring a DJ set from the internationally renowned electronic duo Groove Armada, Werkha’s immersive installation Saturama, a screening and Q&A of BICEP’s TAKKUUK and a performance from Natural Symphony – who uses the natural bio-rhythms of plants and trees to create live electronic music.
The daytime talks programme includes Andy Cato (Groove Armada) in conversation with Nihal Arthanayake about his project Wildfarmed, climate activist Tori Tsui, and ‘The Cloud Gardener’ Jason Williams. The workshops programme includes family workshops in Paper Lantern Making and Shadow Puppetry, Biosonification (making music with plants), small garden design, and Ableton workshops using Ableton Move to make music from frog sounds! Performances and installations include flash mobs with The Climate Choir, a performance from Flow artists, fresh from performing at COP30, and Mercury Prize nominated musician Sam Lee’s immersive nightingales installation running throughout the day. A huge range of organisations including the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, FungALL, Music Declares Emergency, Young Wilders and more will have stalls set up throughout the day for attendees to visit and get involved with climate action.
DAY (10am – 5pm)
Performances
Every 30 mins from 10.30am: Sam Lee’s ‘Singing with Nightingales’ installation in the Top Floor Therapy Room. Free, drop in.
Every hour from 11am: D-FUSE’s ‘Nine Earths’ immersive installation in the South Asia Gallery. Free, drop in.
11.30am-12pm: How to Be a Forest with Dr Henry McPherson in Living Worlds. Free, drop in.
12.30pm: The Climate Choir in Living Worlds. Free, drop in.
1-1.45pm: Plants Can Dance (And Mushrooms Sing) with Brian d’Souza in Living Worlds. Free, drop in.
1.30pm: The Climate Choir in Fossils and Dinosaurs. Free, drop in.
2.30-3pm: Flow: Voices of Water in Living Worlds. Free, drop in.
3.15-3.45pm: Luke Wallace, spellbinding politically charged folk in Living Worlds. Free, drop in.
3.30pm: The Climate Choir in Main Hall. Free, drop in.
Talks
10.30-11am: Beyond ‘just’ climate action: creativity, culture and preservation with 100 Agents of Change in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
11.10-11.25am: The music hiding in everyday sounds with Paul Cheese in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
11.35-11.50am: Tree Equity with The Woodland Trust in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
12-12.30pm: Activism in the community with The Medlock Valley Project, MUD, The Portland Inn and Emma Honeyford in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
12.40-1pm: How music can power climate action with climate activist Tori Tsui in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
1.30-1.50pm: EarthSonic presents FLOW: How artists turn the language of water into music in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
2-2.25pm: The Cloud Gardener in conversation with Tori Tsui: Greening the Urban Future in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
2.35-2.50pm: Music, Meaning, and Collective Action with musician Luke Wallace in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
3-3.30pm: Echoes of the Rainforest Fell with Werkha, Lee Schofield and Yemaya Lee-Hewitt in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
3.45-4.30pm: Wildfarmed: Andy Cato (Groove Armada) in conversation with Nihal Arthanayake in Kanaris Theatre. Free, book tickets.
Workshops and discussions
10.30am-1pm and 2-4.30pm: Composing with Nature: A Creative Workshop by Ableton with Hayley Suviste in Top Floor Classroom. £5, book tickets.
11am-1pm and 2-4pm: RSPB: Paper lantern, drawing, and shadow puppet making workshops on Top Floor. Free, drop in.
12-1pm and 2.30-3.30pm: Climate Action for Music with Gen Earth on Top Floor. Free, book tickets.
12.30-1.15pm: Energy in the Nature Recovery Movement with The Young Wilders on Top Floor. Free, book tickets.
1.30-2.15pm: Bringing the Manchester Argus butterfly home, with The Wildlife Trust in Top Floor Workshop. Free, book tickets.
2.30-3.15pm: Climate Choir Movement: How to Change the World through Singing in the Top Floor Workshop. Free, drop in.
3-3.45pm: Biosonification Workshop (using pocket equipment) with Brian d’Souza – learn to make music from plants
on Top Floor. Free, drop in.
3.30-4.30pm: The Cloud Gardener: Small Space Garden Design workshop in the Top Floor Workshop. Free, book tickets.
EVENING (7pm – 1am)
BICEP’s TAKKUUK (Screening)
Werkha Presents: Saturama
Ableton DJ set
FLOW (Live Performance)
Groove Armada (DJ Set)
Natural Symphony