Grand piano in the ancient forest of Takayna

Do you want to facilitate the creation of unique art and help stop the logging of old growth forest? This is how you can do it.

I am raising funds for an arts residency in April this year: specifically, to install a grand piano in the ancient forest of Takayna / Tarkine in north-west Lutruwita / Tasmania.

• I am attending ‘Art for Takayna’, in April 2025; an annual arts residency event hosted by the Bob Brown Foundation

• I will create improvised piano music in conversation with, and in response to, the sounds of the forest

• The music will be recorded on high fidelity audio equipment, and the performances filmed by professional videographers

• The audio and video recordings will be used in the campaign to highlight the exquisite and unique biodiversity of the old-growth forest, and the need for its preservation

• The grand piano will enable high-quality piano performances, and provide stunning visual imagery for the campaign

• With your help, I intend to raise $3,366 for:

I know the world is full of people who are keen to see art being created in distinctive ways, passionate about spreading the message that we need to save our planet’s remaining biodiversity for the wellbeing and survival of future generations, and willing to support their views by contributing financially, when they can.

An example of how we can raise the funds:

• 7 donors provide $480 each; or

• 34 donors provide $99 each; or

• a combination of the above

Project details

I feel strongly about the importance of saving, for future generations, old growth forest in Australia, and particularly those of Takayna, a globally significant ecosystem. I believe music is unique in its ability to communicate, beyond words, a deeper level of human connectedness and understanding. I hope the music and visual imagery will engage people on a visceral level, to help raise awareness of the precarious situation these ancient forests face, with current and ongoing threats of destruction from logging and mining, and the urgent need to preserve them.

‘Art for Takayna’ brings together artists from across the country to one of the world’s last great temperate rainforests. Over several days, painters, photographers, writers, musicians, and sculptors camp beneath the forest canopy, drawing inspiration from the towering myrtles, the calls of rare birds, and the flowing rivers that have carved this landscape for millennia.

I will use the piano, once installed in the forest, to record a series of extended improvisations, in conversation with the sounds of the forest. I will also make field recordings of the forest sounds, so I can perform with these recordings to live audiences upon completion of the arts residency. Furthermore, I intend to use the time with the piano in the forest to compose new music that will be recorded and performed by ensembles, after the residency. On a previous 5-day visit to Takayna, I was left with a very distinct sense of the life-giving and life-nurturing force the forest provides. I am excited and intrigued to find out how my piano performances and compositions will be affected by my immersion in the forest.

In return for donations, I am offering to provide piano concert(s), sharing the music made in Takayna. Donors will be invited to a concert to be arranged in a mutually convenient location.

Project specifics

• Funds provided by donors will be used to install a Yamaha C3 grand piano in the temperate rainforest at Que River, Tasmania, from 18–21 April 2025.

• The piano will be provided by Strating Pianos, Launceston, and tuned by Alistair Strating—Alistair tunes for international artists, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Musica Viva Australia.

Costs

• total cost of piano hire, installation, and tuning, inclusive of GST, is $3,366.

• All other costs will be covered/met by the Bob Brown Foundation (BBF), and me:

Thank you for considering this proposal. I do hope you are able to help with this project.

Warm regards,

Dave McEvoy

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