Can animals rock to rhythm or recognise a melody? Naturalist and Presenter Chris Packham and internationally acclaimed musician and composer Nitin Sawhney believe some can, as do a growing field of scientific experts including: Zoomusicologist Dr Emily Doolittle and Neuroscientists Professor Aniruddh Patel and Professor Ed Large.

Coming to Sky Arts on Tuesday 6 December, The Animal Symphony, from Sky Arts’ Amplify fund and Arts Council England, sees Chris Packham and Nitin Sawhney join forces to explore extraordinary animal reactions to music.

Using new research, and taking inspiration from the natural world, Chris and Nitin spent four months examining how and why certain animals respond to music. The result is a beautiful composition performed by the world renowned City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) that speaks directly to the animals featured in the programme.

During the show, we learn how animals respond to melody, rhythm and beat, and meet the musical animal muses who directly inspired Nitin’s score for the CBSO.

Star performances include Ronan the sea lion getting into the groove of disco classic Boogie Wonderland; Snowball the cockatoo, who seems to have a party going on in his head; starlings Ernie and Arnie singing along to Schubert melodies; and a pack of wolves from a Berkshire-based sanctuary chorusing to whale song.

Nitin Sawhney comments: “I really hope this symphony provokes debate and maybe even potential research into how animals relate to sound and perhaps how they create their own version of music.”

Chris Packham says: “This project has quite literally allowed me to open my ears, not least to the fact that science now has the opportunity to delve in even greater detail into  the way that animals communicate with one another. Ultimately, anything that allows us to focus on what animals are saying to one another, perhaps even saying to us, well, that has to be a wonderful thing.”

Notes to Editors

Established in 2014, the Sky Arts Amplify fund opened up a unique opportunity for talent to collaborate across disciplines and develop original television content. This three-year special initiative invites arts organisations and production companies to pitch to receive funding for new commissions.

To reach the widest possible range of talent, the Arts Council supported four ‘speed dating’ sessions across England. The sessions facilitated introductions between arts organisations and production companies to meet and discuss ideas.

Following the sessions, an open call for proposals led to six projects being given development funding on the strength of their originality and potential to deliver ground-breaking arts television.

Darren Henley, chief executive, Arts Council England said: “Through our partnership with Sky Arts we’ve supported arts organisations around the country to work with television production companies, enabling them to develop their skills and capacity to generate new creative content.”

Phil Edgar-Jones, director, Sky Arts comments: "Sky Arts' Amplify project is all about brilliant artists and interesting collaborations. Chris Packham, Nitin Sawhney and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra making music for animals is impossible to resist. I am excited and so is my hamster.”

For further information, please contact: 

Roz Arratoon / Tabitha Parlett

Margaret

+44 (0) 207 739 82013

Roz@margaretlondon.com / Tabitha@margaretlondon.com