After debuting at the Peabody Essex Museum in 2021 in Salem, Massachusetts, The Great Animal Orchestra is coming to the west coast this summer in partnership between The Exploratorium and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. The exhibition is a collaboration between soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause and United Visual Arts, where over 5,000 hours of recordings from natural environments will transport guests into an immersive auditory experience that is grounded in nature. Opening on June 10 in San Francisco, the exhibition is an all-encompassing experience that combines visual and auditory arrangements in order to raise awareness for the imminent dangers that our environments across the globe are facing.

Krause, an almost lifelong resident of the Bay Area, views The Great Animal Orchestra’s upcoming opening in San Francisco as a long time coming. Throughout his career, Krause has pioneered research of the acoustic world of animals, a passion which he found after previously working as a sound designer in the 60s and 70s, where he worked with legendary musicians like The Doors and Van Morrison. His passion for the sounds of the animal kingdom have eloquently combined science and art, with Krause having recorded over 15,000 identified terrestrial and marine species globally. In recent years in the wake of climate change, the soundscape master has returned to sites that he previously recorded in the 70’s, finding that more than 50% of biodiversity has been lost in certain environments.

“Imagine that the Exploratorium has been given Earth’s ear for the next few months,” shares Krause on the exhibition. “It’s a receptor that detects only the life-affirming sounds of the natural world, even in urban San Francisco. This ear only responds to the divine sounds of the natural world and knows that they alone can repair our aching souls if we just let them in. What will we allow this wondrous ear to detect in the next several months? Will we sanction wisdom, conciliation, kindness, love, wonder, balance, beneficence, and restoration to be heard? People often ask: ‘If I want to hear these beautiful animal orchestras, what can I do?’ It’s not what we must do to hear them. It’s what we choose not to do. To paraphrase a line by David Bowie: The future belongs to those who can hear it coming. Question: What do you hear?”

The Great Animal Orchestra will run from June 10 to October 15, 2023 at The Exploratorium in San Francisco.