Art Exhibitions
Pehuén Sound Cycle: rescuing the sounds of the humid temperate forest

The Pehuén Sound Cycle, organized by Fundación Mar Adentro, began with an inaugural concert held on August 9, 2022 in the auditorium of the Liquen Cultural Center of Villarrica, space in which a sound installation was also stages, based on the investigations carried out by Fernando Matus de la Parra at the conservation area of ​​Fundación Mar Adentro, Bosque Pehuén, where he explored different sound characteristics of the forest.

As the artist mentions, “the original approach behind the creative process of the Pehuén Sound Cycle is related to the unveiling of natural events -valuing their phenomenological temporalities- and which is closely linked to the natural sound textures, attributes and rhythms coexisting in the forest, and the parallelism of events that respond to an ecosystemic balance”. His work invites us to revitalize listening and value the sound identity of nature, its textures, gestures and temporalities, seeking to preserve those acoustic landscapes that today are in danger of disappearing.

In this way, the work of Fernando Matus de la Parra is closely linked to the investigation of temporalities and characteristics of natural environments for musical creation. The pieces seek the interpretation and recording of sound biodiversity, also incorporating other elements such as the pressure of the wind and the movement it generates in the plants, the direction of the flight of birds, fluttering wings and moving clouds, among others. Records that allow a different listening experience of the sound environment and to value biodiversity.

The artist developed a musical score for ecosystems, based on his attentive listening at a point in Bosque Pehuén, where he usually heard three species of birds (chucao, fiofío and rayadito), to each of which he assigned an instrument. Based on this, two works were performed in this conservation area of ​​Fundación Mar Adentro, and a virtual dialogue was developed with the composer Fernando Matus de la Parra and one of the performing musicians, Dante Jara. The great conductor of these two pieces is water, which invites us to tune in and flow with the invisible music of the forest.

Ciclo Sonoro Pehuén is the result of the Resonancias residency program organized by the Goethe-Institut Chile and the French Institute of Chile, with support from the Franco-German Cultural Fund and the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Chile, in association with the residence spaces ISLA / SACO, NAVE, Casa Espacio Buenos Aires 824 – FIFV, B.A.S.E / Tsonami Arte Sonoro, Bosque Pehuén / Fundación Mar Adentro and Universidad de Magallanes.

About the Composer:

Fernando Matus de la Parra Torres (1986). Composer, sound artist, educator and sound designer, currently living and working from Villarrica, Araucanía region, Chile. Master of Arts, with a mention in musical composition at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He also studied composition with masters Aliocha Solovera, Antonio Carvallo and Cristián Morales. He is the musical director and composer of various sound intervention projects in public spaces that link contemporary scholarly musical composition with soundscapes and acoustic environments. He appears as a musical composer in the sound-theater company Persona, among other projects related to the performing arts.