Singing Trees

Conceived by the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and produced by Umbrellium, Ircam Amplify and Music Unit, Singing Trees is an interactive spatialized sound installation that gives a voice to the trees surrounding the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The closer the audience gets to the palm trees, the more the trees start to "sing" loudly, in harmony, like a choir. As the volume and timing of the tree choir increases as the visitors draw near, they are invited to hug the trunks ("tree hugs") or embrace them tightly in order to intensify the harmony of the vocal ensemble. In an era of climate change, Singing Trees is a work of environmental awareness that encourages the general public to become responsible of their ecological footprint and to act on it.

The mission of Music Unit, with Julien Chirol for arrangements, Manuel Poletti for sound design and Martin Antiphon for sound engineering, was to assign a unique voice to the trees, using a panel of songs from the traditional English, French and Emirati repertoires, and voice processing technologies produced at Ircam.