Dawn Chorus

Residency Outcome, Nature Conservation Society Commission (NCSSA) 2022

Essay by Andrew Purvis

Single channel stereo recording
10:20 minutes
2022

Vocalist Emma Borgas. Mixed by Kaurna Cronin

Excerpt from commissioned essay by Andrew Purvis: Amber Cronin’s work, Dawn Chorus, is the result of a lengthy residency with the Mount Lofty Ranges Woodland Bird Monitoring Program. Beyond coming to grips with the data set, Amber visited the sites and spent time with the surveyors and volunteers, seeking to understand this community and connect with the source of their passion. A versatile artist working across a range of materials and processes, Amber recognised sound as a key element in this project. Working with vocalist Emma Borgas and composer Kaurna Cronin, Amber has created a complex and multi-layered soundscape that is plangent and affecting.

This work does not seek to improve on nature’s melodies but, rather, it recognises the way in which human culture has been shaped and influ- enced by birdsong. Birds weave like a bright thread through the tapestry of our poetry and song, our myths and legends, and our visual arts and crafts. Magpie-like, Amber’s soundscape is constructed from gleaned lines of poetry and musical motifs. As these elements coalesce, the work gener- ates a kind of liminal language, one that speaks across the separation of species.

This work does more than honor the birds; it also recognises the human communities they touch. Haunting and elegiac, Dawn Chorus gives shape to a sense of loss, while also paying tribute to the beauty of birdsong.