Voices That Made A Wood

Voices That Made a Wood is a multi-channel sound work that gives voice to the communities, both human and nonhuman, that have helped shape the Glas-na-Bradan Wood, a newly developing woodland in the Belfast Hills, Northern Ireland. From 2021 to 2024, Robert followed the growth of this site through extended on-site listening, seasonal recordings, ecoacoustic monitoring, and interviews with volunteer tree planters involved in a Woodland Trust project that has planted over 150,000 trees across the area. The site currently encompasses multiple emerging habitats, including species-rich grassland with native scrub and streams on the lower slopes, and exposed heathland on the upper slopes, making it a landscape in rapid ecological transition. The composition draws from this extensive archive of recordings, interweaving the composer’s reflections on the place with the voices of tree planters and nonhuman inhabitants alike. Present-day soundscapes merge with future hopes for the area, inviting listeners to experience the site as a place shaped by collective care, ongoing ecological processes, and nonhuman agency.