Evaluation Report March 2016

The Bristol Ensemble Company limited by guarantee No. 3496857 Registered charity No. 1075201.

Address: 10 Cossins Rd, Redland, Bristol, BS6 7LY

Tel: 07766 105491

Email: [email protected] Web: www.bristolensemble.com

Artistic Director - Roger Huckle

Project Plan

TreeSong was a Bristol Green Capital project and part of the Nature strand of public events. It was based on an idea designed with three aims:  Improving public knowledge and understanding of nature within the urban environment  Connecting people to nature and encouraging their appreciation of the natural urban wealth through interaction  Providing an artistic experience through the interpretation of a natural phenomenon

Original proposal

TreeSong is an arts installation commissioned by Bristol 2015 as part of the city’s year as European Green Capital. A specific beech tree was chosen (see map) we installed a low level structure beneath the canopy designed to make contact with the falling beechnuts and emit musical sound across an octave. All the sounds were recorded to capture the soundtrack of the tree and this data was used in a new classical composition premiered at St George’s Bristol in November. During hours of darkness, the installation and the tree was lit with red and green wash lighting. A solar-powered generator was positioned close to the site to provide environmentally-friendly electricity supply. Over the period of the installation, people were able to hear the sounds of the tree. An education project was planned to run alongside the installation to provide information about the tree and the role and importance of trees in the urban environment.

Location

Timetable:

28th – 30th September 2015: Installation fixing, testing and trouble-shooting

1st – 4th October 2015: Installation open to the public from 10 am – 10 pm daily; free of charge

29th November 2015: Premiere of the TreeSong music at St George’s Bristol

The installation

We encountered several problems in the planning and implementation of the installation. We had had preliminary discussions with a group of artist technicians with the expertise to install a structure beneath the chosen beech tree. From confirmation of the Bristol 2015 funding in January through to June, the planning and negotiations proceeded up until a critical point in early July when it was clear we would not be able to proceed with these providers. We could not reach agreement on their terms so we took the decision to pursue other routes for delivery. This meant finding new artists with the experience, expertise, availability and affordability.

We produced an invitation to tender and circulated it through our networks. This resulted in the appointment of Jony Easterby and Matthew Olden who proposed a new plan which worked within our budget.

Jony and Matthew surveyed the tree in late July and at this point doubts were raised as to the expected fruitfall of beechnuts in the autumn. The tree had been selected based on the previous year’s mast which had produced a prolific crop of beechnuts. By early August it was almost certain that this year would be close to zero fruitfall. As the original design had been conceived to use the fruit falling to produce the sound, the design was then amended to make it adaptable so that any movement in, through and from the tree would be captured (wind, rain, wildlife, leaves and beechnuts). The only alternative would have been to find a new suitable tree in the right condition, location etc and this was rejected as unfeasible at this late stage.

Installation set up began on 28th September. A wooden collar was fitted around the trunk of the tree to act as a pick up to translate vibrations through 32 piezos and over 200 strings radiating from the trunk to the circumference of the canopy at ground level. This equipment served to amplify the sounds coming from the tree.

The strength and character of the wind and swaying of the tree altered the pitch, timbre and resonance of the strings giving a constantly shifting canvas of sound. Forty redundant violin, cello and viola bows were hung from the tree and set in motion by the movement of the branches, bowing, knocking and exciting the strings. The audio and data from these were amplified through speakers positioned in the canopy Sixteen small bird boxes with speakers and recordings of British birds local to the Downs were also triggered by this.

A small wooden shed was built to act as a control studio where the sound artists created a live mix of the sound which evolved and shifted over the four days of the installation. The live sound was also used to control the shifting and fading lights mounted on each bow.

The second problem arose when it became clear that the solar-powered generator we had hired was not robust enough for the job. In spite of glorious autumn sunshine for the duration, the supply was being used faster than the charging speed. This problem was identified during the installation build period so we had to source alternative provision that was capable of lasting throughout the entire period. A 2-ton truck was procured with solar panels on its roof and this was parked close to the site to solve the problem.

A site risk assessment was carried out on completion of the installation to ensure the safety of visitors. Overnight security protected the equipment and installation throughout the entire period of the installation. The site was never left unattended at any time.

The installation itself worked really well. It looked and sounded beautiful, in daylight and after nightfall, and from the moment the installation started being installed, it attracted a lot of interest from passers-by, the media and social media.

Visitors

The installation opened to the public at 10am on 1st October and remained open till 10 pm each day up to and including Sunday 4th October. Volunteer stewards, wearing Bristol 2015 tabards were present at all times, talking to visitors and distributing flyers about the project. The volunteers also maintained the headcount and gathered monitoring information.

Staff and volunteers stewards greeted everyone at the site and engaged most people in discussion about the work. From the outset it was clear that the installation made a profound impression on visitors. The vast majority of comments were positive. Some people just didn’t ‘get it’ and there were a few grumbles questioning the use of public money for ‘something like this when there are cuts to public services that actually help people’.

The stewards gathered information to monitor visitor numbers, age range, gender, race/ethnicity and postcode.

3,650 people visited the tree. 440 people attended the concert 8 weeks later – a total of 4,090 people. Some of concert goers had also visited the tree but it would not have been possible, or appropriate to canvas a concert audience and obtain an accurate number of unique people accessing the project.

Feedback

A comments book was opened on the second day (2nd October) and we invited visitors to give their feedback in writing especially encouraging those with strong views either way. 75 people wrote in the book – the majority of which were very positive comments, and many were considered comments. This very much reflected how the project was received in general. A selection of comments are included below:

 THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PUBLIC MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT!

 European Green Capital 2015 has and continues to be brilliant.

 Whatever money controversy there may be, I think this is worth every penny. An extraordinary 'tuning in' to wind, air, falling leaves and the branches of a beautiful tree. And much cheaper than the Royal Opera House funding! Lovely that Will G will write music from this. Well done. (C Shewell)

 Amazing concept, truly wonderful. Thank you. (Liz H)

 So creative, linking nature and technology but then, nature has its own technology too. Congratulations on a good idea that gives us music, sound and a prompt to think and meditate… and forget the superficial press and media, they are too often pathetic parasites. (Mark)

 Oh Bristol, this is why I love you! So imaginative and creative! Awesome project to get people thinking and engaging with Nature. (Vicki)

The complete list of comments is attached as Appendix 1.

We processed the most frequently used words from the comments book into a Wordall:

Funding

The total budget including the concert was £66,550. Bristol Green Capital awarded funding of £37,500 towards the installation budget of £57,500 (excluding the concert costs). We hoped to raise an additional £20,000 from Charitable Trusts or companies however despite our best efforts, we were only able to raise an additional £4,850 towards the concert costs and the final budget (installation and concert) was set at £46,500.

See financial summary for budget detail. (Appendix 2)

Education

The drop in the budget for the installation required us to cut the education programme and we were unable to offer any formal planned programmes. We did however produce A5 flyers with technical information explaining the installation, the artists involved and promoting the forthcoming concert.

Publicity

We printed 5,000 A5 colour flyers featuring an illustration of what the installation would look like. These were distributed door to door to the three closest BS postcodes and also distributed to arts and entertainment venues around the city.

We placed an advertisement in the Bristol magazine September edition.

Press

There was extensive coverage in the local and national press. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/01/nut-free-treesong-beech-tree-bristol http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/8203-Bristol-musical-tree-project-hampered-lack/story-27903737-detail/story.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-34410100 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/nutty-project-make-music-trees-6555390 http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Making-music-falling-nuts-tree-Durdham-Bristol/story-27903409- detail/story.html

Website and social media

We set up a dedicated website for the project: www.treesong.org.uk

There was continuous activity on social media leading up to, and during the Downs installation. The Bristol Ensemble, the installation artists and the composer were posting on Facebook and Tweeting at every opportunity.

We also ran a blog during the period of the installation and leading up to the concert

Website Between March and December (the 10 month period of the project) our website received 19,695 hits, an average of 64 per day. The most visits in a single day were 536 on the 2nd October, Day 2 of the project. No of tweets Installation 1 – 5 October: 8,392 Concert 1 – 30 November: 49,474 Total: 57,866 No of re-tweets Installation 1 – 5 October: 202 Concert 1 – 30 November: 683 Total: 885

TreeSong was widely promoted on social media – focussing on Twitter and Facebook with activity (commenting, sharing, tweeting and re-tweeting) peaking around the time of the installation (28 Sept – 4 Oct) and the run up to the concert (22-29 November). We posted dozens of photos and ran a blog over the seven days of the Downs installation on the dedicated TreeSong website. Social media was boosted by the extensive radio and press coverage.

Evaluation Commentary

The project encountered a number of problems at each stage, all of which we managed to overcome. It also delivered a number of fortuitous surprises and opportunities which we were able to take advantage of.

With hindsight  We should have secured the delivery contract sooner and not allowed the initial preferred suppliers to stretch out negotiations until it became clear that we wouldn’t be able to proceed with them. This cost vital preparation time.  We thought our research into the fruitfall was adequate. We consulted with the University of Bristol’s Botany department but with hindsight a full survey of the chosen tree, although incurring more costs, would have identified the uncertainty of beech nuts. If we were ever to mount a similar project we would also select a suitable back up tree and location.  Although we thought we had accurately anticipated the power supply requirements there was a clear gap in the understanding and communication between the installation artist and the first solar- powered generator supplier. We had been assured by the generator company that the equipment was robust enough, but with hindsight this should have been externally verified by an electrical engineer prior to installation.  The failure to secure additional funding for the education project was a real disappointment because we had a wonderful opportunity to teach children about the role and value of nature in the urban environment in a truly unique way. The extended negotiations with the failed delivery partner wasted value time which should and could have been channelled into raising the additional funding required.  We did not anticipate the complaints from visitors about having to pay to go to the concert. To our knowledge, 8 people felt aggrieved that only half the project was free at the point of access. They expressed resentment that they would have to pay to see the final product ie the new musical composition to be premiered at St George’s. When this viewpoint became obvious, we launched a discount scheme offering a 20% discount code on concert tickets for those who had visited the tree. After the installation and before the concert, we uploaded we uploaded three excerpts from the 96hour soundtrack recorded at the installation the TreeSong website www.treesong.org.uk These were available as free downloads. Two short videos of the installation were also uploaded to Youtube, featuring the audio from the tree. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Tpkrhe7c8 www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fvV0_Vm5Bs

After the concert we uploaded the 19 minute TreeSong composition premiere to the website http://www.treesong.org.uk/concert/

A number of aspects of the project worked particularly well.

 Whilst completely out of anyone’s control, the weather was superb for an outdoor event in October, in England. Warm autumn sunshine and clear blue skies definitely added to the glorious atmosphere around the tree. The weather declined on the last day of the installation with the wind picking up and this created a dramatic finale to the soundtrack.

 As the installation was to be located on Durdham Downs, we were required to seek permission from the Downs Committee (DC). The delays in the planning, and the schedule of DC meetings, created one single window of opportunity for our proposal to be considered. The DC received the proposal with enthusiasm and granted their full support.

 The media response took us by surprise. From the first media interview (Radio Bristol) the story quickly went national focussing on the lack of beech nuts and almost universally questioning the value of public funds for a ‘failed’ arts project. We were able to counter these negative angles as we had in fact made provision for the lack of beech nuts. The media coverage served to drive visitors to the site. An overall appraisal of visitors’ expectations based on media coverage, and their actual experience based on seeing and hearing the installation was that in almost all cases there were significant shifts in opinion. Many had come to ‘see the failure’ and instead saw ‘a unique, interesting and beautiful work of ingenuity’ that was thought-provoking and intriguing.

 Social media helped to raise and maintain interest in the project.

Legacy

The lasting legacy of TreeSong is undoubtedly the 19-minute composition of music which was premiered on 29 November 2015 at St George’s Bristol. The piece used authentic sounds from around the tree (sounds of traffic, football matches, voices etc) and from the tree itself (the recorded audio soundtrack). These elements were woven into a new classical piece of music, arranged for 20 musicians including strings, wind, percussion, tubular bells and harp. The music was composed by Bristol composer William Goodchild.

The story of the TreeSong project will remain on the TreeSong website, together with the film of the premiere performance and it is our hope that there will be future opportunities to perform the piece not just in Bristol but further afield as part of the Ensemble’s touring repertoire.

Appendix 1

Comments written in Visitors’ Book at TreeSong installation

Friday 2nd October

 Brilliant! Fantastic  It's great that it's bringing people to the Downs to enjoy the autumn trees.  I've recommended it on Trip Advisor!  Great for Bristol  I just stumbled across it and I'm really intrigued.  What a wonderful idea.  A fascinating experience  Humbling, soothing. Bringing tree to life.  Imaginative use of a natural element. Soothing and heavenly. Will be interesting to hear musical use made of the sounds.  How clever! What a fab idea. Soothing and comforting.  We are so lucky in Bristol to have such creative things happening. A real delight.  Eerie, enchanting and amazing.  Very ethereal! National news – wrong again. Great idea, and an exciting project. Look forward to the concert.  Inspired! Truly wonderful – haven’t experienced anything like this since we had a ‘sound bath’ at the ‘Integratron’ in California – look forward to the concert!  Great experience! Hope it encourages knowledge of trees.  Brilliant idea. Who thought of all this working together. Different from every side too. It also attracts ladybirds – 100s. Scientific help for ladybirds.  Another first for Bristol. Marvellous.  (From Sydney Hart age 9) Ladybugs like the music :)  Absolutely beautiful experience at one with nature. Excellent idea.  Really lovely afternoon here, loved the tree and natural music. Very relaxing.  THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PUBLIC MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT.  Incredible! What an imaginative idea! Cannot wait to see how this turns out :)  I thought that I would never see a bona fide singing tree  Great project! Eerie and ethereal sounds like that of an ambient sci fi movie. Really interesting take on the wind harp. I’ll come back when it’s more windy.  Wonderful – it its best sense. Thank you.  Just amazing. Fantastic and beautiful.  Ethereal and haunting. Just so good. Well done. (Dr Andrew Stevens)  Amazing music. Spooky eerie sounds. Really interesting and thought provoking.  Amazing – well done!  Well tree I hope you’re feeling honoured and special. I love your songs – thank you! x  The music of the trees – reminds me of the music of the spheres. Glorious project – feels like touching eternity.  It is amazing and really clever how you are able to put them in the right place (Jess Hollingbery, age 8)  It is so in (a young child)  Incredible – well done. (child)  I think it’s clever. (child)

 It is very peaceful and clever. (child)  It’s very peaceful and beautiful. Lovely idea.  Ignore the Torygraph.  A great use of nature to provide a very spiritual and enlightening experience… I’m very much taken back to Stonehenge!  This is stunningly beautiful.  Thanks, really amazing! x  Really cool and clever, love the music.  Beautiful, unique and very impressive!  A beautiful sound, but not sure about the artificial bird sound from the boxes?  Original and very interesting.

Saturday 3rd October

 Hoping there will be (tapes!) audio recording of this for home use. A very relaxing experience.  It was an amazing experience!  Beautiful – magical :)  Brian Eno would be proud…  Amazing experience. The sounds are so varied and musical!  Shame it’s not on for longer!  A fun innovative idea. I cycled from Stoke Gifford to visit the tree.  Magical – a very calming experience. Great work.  Very clever (Annabel, 5 years old)  Relaxing & atmospheric  Fascinating – reminiscent of Coil! Would love to buy a copy of the recording.  I agree, would love to purchase the footage! Such an amazing way of getting people to engage with nature, by incorporating creativity :)  How unique! Great to see and hear the experiment myself. Thanks  Very interesting – look forward to the composition.  Ground breaking stuff – how clever and interesting! Thank you for taking the time to explain it to us.  European Green Capital 2015 has and continues to be brilliant.  Enjoying a walk in the sun and came across this amazing sound installation, hoping it will be my baby due 4/10 to come out and see this amazing world. (Sam & bump)  Brilliant!  Love it!  Very inspirational. Love from Soph & Mat, Wales xxx  It’s not rock and roll but pretty damn good. Very innovative idea. B.R.

Sunday 4th October

 Magical idea! Brilliant execution!  Whatever money controversy there may be, I think this is worth every penny. An extraordinary 'tuning in' to wind, air, falling leaves and the branches of a beautiful tree. And much cheaper than the Royal Opera House funding! Lovely that Will G will write music from this. Well done. (C Shewell)  Amazing concept, truly wonderful. Thank you. (Liz H)  So creative, linking nature and technology but then, nature has its own technology too. Congratulations on a good idea that gives us music, sound and a prompt to think and meditate… and forget the superficial press and media, they are too often pathetic parasites. (Mark)  I completely agree with all of the above 4 comments on this page. So glad we have this here - another winning arts installation in Bristol! Amazing. (RCL)  I am not sure of the point? Whey have a tree with no nuts if it is meant to be nuts falling? However enjoyed it in a surreal way.  Absolutely love it. That is amazing! Well done. (Minxy x)  Wonderful idea! Wonder what the tree feels! (N x)  I can hear a choral piece and the violins playing in the trees. (Gill)  Nice to hear the trees sing in the wind, reminds me of lost souls asking us to protect our most precious possession, the earth. Well done (Janet)  Brilliant! Only in Bristol could I have seen Dancing Cranes and a musical tree on the same weekend (Annie)  What a fantastic experience! A great idea! A tree that talks to you! Always in love of trees this is absolutely wonderful (Lal Asad, from Spain)  It sounds quite spooky and underwater like. It's quite cool (Halle Knowlden)  It made me think of thunder when a dog ran into one of the strings (Elizabeth)  I like the tree music (Louis, age 5)  What an amazing imaginative piece of work. Loving the sound and atmosphere it crates. Congratulation to all involved. How lucky we are to be in Bristol with such creative people. (Alison Roberts)  What a great fun idea, powered for free as well. Cool. Thanks Mother Nature!  Dryad's sound system - stepping out of the formulaic, a way of listening to the space beneath the tree - I love it.  I don't get it! And it cost so much!  STAY IN THEN [Comment written by another person with an arrow pointing to the one above]  Beautiful! Who needs Pink Floyd? Well done, creative and fun. (Sue and her mum, 90)  It could only happen in Bristol! We love the tree, it's great to hear its voice. (Gill and Nick)  A fine line between music and nature's tinnitus!  The trees as ever are the real stars of the show. We love trees! (Caz and Tony)  Most interesting - isn't nature wonderful.  I love the thought of this tree bringing its memories of decades on the Downs to us.  Fantastic! Thank you  It sounds as if something very sinister is about to happen!!!  Weow love it! (Kath, Jayne, Emilee, Rebecca and Hulby)  I like it. Definitely makes for a new Downs experience. (Claire Morgan)  I think it is extremely clever and sounds very cool (Emilee)  Oh Bristol, this is why I love you! So imaginative and creative! Awesome project to get people thinking and engaging with Nature. (Vicki)  [Lots of arrows and extra comments added to the comment above] - I feel so the same - what a place! Me too! Agreed! Ditto! Hell yeah! I love this place!)  What an amazing idea :) (Lizzie)

 I found it very deep, dark and underwater-like. I enjoyed it very much! (R Chalmers)  Most unusual and very soothing, could spend a lot of time sitting here just listening. Very mysterious too.  Good excuse to stand and stare at a tree (Ian)  I don't get it. Must be a bit beyond me!  Such a beautiful idea - really brought out my inner hippie! Thank you (Rebecca)  Whatever happens keep planting trees. I love you Bristol Love and peace xxx  Awesome! Want more! (Rohan)  I like the music (Tara, age 7)  I found it touching. Thanks  A beautiful idea! (David)  Should definitely in some form be a permanent installation (Ian)  Haunting, ethereal, spacey. I love TreeSong.  I like it, it's very soothing and it makes me feel like I am an animal up in the tree.  I really like it, it makes a sound that sounds like when I'm on an aeroplane. (Emily)  Drove from Canterbury in Kent to see the singing tree. Actually came to see my sister but loved it :)  What no plastic whale? Awesome…  An immersive and interesting experience… sounded very eerie!  What a lovely experience - ta!  Awesome - thank you my beloved Bristol! xx  Brilliant concept - cuts through the hurly-burly of busy lives. Turn the nature up more!  Wonderful - what an imaginative inspired idea - great way to re-see, re-hear, re-experience nature.  Really relaxing to listen to :)  Inspired me to feel my inner peace :)  An amazing effort to bring the tree to life. Well done everyone is intrigued by the wonderful sounds.  Eerie sounds - wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it. Fascinating.  What a great way of making people think more deeply about the hidden sounds of music. Can't wait to hear Will Goodchild's new composition.  How thought provoking! Just what an art installation should be.  Love trees and however relaxing and weird this project is I am trying to justify in my mind if it is £37,000 of grant money well spent. How many trees would this have planted if used differently?  I found it touching. Thanks.  A beautiful idea!  Should definitely in some form be a permanent installation  It was so fascinating to hear the music, as being in an orchestra I can imagine how good it will sound. An amazing idea xxx  I love this idea – the connection between life (tree) and sound is so appealing. Keep going!  Really innovative! Can’t wait to hear the music. The “Can I help you?” lady was lovely too – great volunteer!  Can’t imagine how this was conceptualised!! Well done. It’s rather lovely and eerie.  Loved it.  Very nice! Loving nature  Great Idea. See you next year!  Nice sight. Nice setting  Very intrigeaguing (ca’t spell). Curious  Great to hear trees/nature. Not cars.  Very eerie at night and an excellent idea.  So beautiful. A chance to get lost in nature and the magical atmosphere.

Appendix 2

Bristol Ensemble TreeSong Project Income and Expenditure Summary 1 January 2015 - 31 December 2015

Income Project Total Bristol City Council Grant £ 37,500 PRS Grant £ 4,850 Net Ticket Sales £ 4,031 Programme Sales £ 160

Total Income £ 46,541

Expenditure Artistic Director £ 2,000 Project Delivery £ 12,708 Project Management & Consultancy £ 9,000 Additional Fundraising £ 375 Insurance £ 371 Travel & Subsistence £ 1,115 Advertising & Promotion £ 1,884 Literature & Brochures £ 823 Marketing Management £ 350 Postage & Distribution £ 480 Recording, Filming, Photography £ 775 Treesong Website £ 500 Composer's Fee £ 4,900 Players' Fees £ 4,082 Soloist's Fee £ 3,000 Venue Hire £ 1,500 Music Hire £ 510 Concert Sound & Lighting £ 977 Concert Management £ 940 Evaluation £ 250

Total Expenditure £ 46,540