Mongabay · Climate & nature

Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals Premieres

A new orchestral work, "Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals," by composer Stephanie Ann Boyd, uses music, puppetry, and dance to highlight species facing extinction. The production opens in Honolulu.

The piece features 14 movements dedicated to 13 species, including tigers, bees, polar bears, turtles, elephants, rhinos, coral, whales, woodpeckers, passenger pigeons, wolves, buffalo, and Hawaiian kāhuli snails. It is designed as a companion to Camille Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals."

The production combines the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, dancers from Ballet Hawaiʻi, and guest artists. Puppeteer Greg Corbino created the animal figures, and Hawaiian actor Moses Goods narrates poems by local students.

Specific movements aim to evoke the animals' characteristics, such as the passenger pigeon's dense flocks, the tiger's roar and chuff, the floating sound of bees and butterflies, and the bassoon's depiction of a swimming hawksbill turtle.

The music also represents the song of the ivory-billed woodpecker and the comeback of gray wolves and American buffalo. The kāhuli snail movement, featuring cellos and harp, reflects the near-total loss of Hawaiʻi's native land snail species, with up to 90% of diversity gone and surviving kāhuli federally listed as endangered.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.