A Kauri Cries, The Aukland Philharmonia Musically Interprets the Gummy Tears of a Dying Tree

“A Kauri Cries” is truly a noble project that are working to save the New Zealand native kauri tree from a deadly plant pathogen known as dieback. Dieback causes the tree to weep gum from its bark in a manner similar to human tears. In order to bring awareness to this blight, the project posted several cameras provided by Syrp posted near a dying tree to capture this in process in motion and from which the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra created a gorgeous interpretation of how a kauri might cry .

The plan was simple. Sort of. Track a camera down a kauri tree infected with dieback, and use the imagery to create a musical score, which will then be played by members of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Syrp’s motion control expertise were called upon for the initial shots of the trees which required slow tracking motion in a completely vertical orientation. This disease causes kauri to die silently, weeping gum from its trunk. With the help of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, we communicated one kauri’s pain through musical notation.

Behind-the-scenes of this amazing project.