Nature and music come together
Wild Center’s iForest combines nature, world-class choral music
His young granddaughter Josie’s reaction -“Now I know how angels sound” -- to a new integrative Wild Center attraction was music to Rick Godin’s ears.
There’s no other way to describe the almost heavenly experience of walking through peaceful woods, accompanied by a world-class chamber choir’s songs, projected from 24 speakers strategically located on trees along the trail.
The innovative creation, called iForest, is the work of composermusician Peter M. Wyer, of England, who has produced scores for London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Juilliard and the Royal Opera House.
“Each person in The Crossing, a Grammy Award-winning chamber choir from Philadelphia, was recorded on a separate microphone,” said Godin, an original Wild Center board member. “Then it went back to a London studio for final production.”
The immersive sound installation mesmerizes visitors such as Beatrice Engel, a graduate of Westminster Choir College, in Princeton, N.J., whose son performs with the Dallas Opera.
“It’s a place of refreshment for people, a very special place,” she said after walking the trail loop.
Although short in distance, iForest should be experienced slowly for maximum enjoyment.
“It’s 40 minutes long,” Godin said. “There’s five different musical pieces including one called Storm Dance, done in the Mohawk language. It’s a chant that lets people know a storm is coming.”
Eric Buckland and Michelle Kelly, of New Hampshire, said iForest was a highlight of their visit to the Wild Center, an unexpected but pleasant surprise during their recent trip to the Adirondacks.
“We’ve never been to the area before,” Buckland said. “We came out here to see the lakes, mountains and do some camping. A lady in town, with the Chamber of Commerce, told us about this. It’s awesome. We’ll be talking about this weekend for a long time.”
The Center, which attracts about 150,000 visitors annually, has generated almost unanimous similar reviews since its official opening on July 4, 2006. The date was selected to celebrate the Adirondacks as a great American success story.
The site’s mission is based around three “E’s” -- environment, education and the economy.
Visitors learn about the beauties and benefits of the natural world, and how to co-exist with and protect it. Students from a local elementary school, within walking distance of the Center, use its science wing regularly for classes and lessons.
The next big milestone in the site’s history came three years ago with the opening of the highly-acclaimed Wild Walk, an elevated boardwalk complete with swinging bridges, a fourstory tree house, giant eagle’s nest and human-sized spider web. Wild Walk affords a bird’seye view of the region, and a unique way of experiencing the environment from a tree-top perspective.
Throughout the day, the Center’s Flammer Theater shows a variety of films such as “The Wild Adirondacks,” which Godin produced. It features the breathtaking photography of Carl Heilman, whose work captures everything from wild flowers to panoramic vistas, taken from the summit of lofty mountain peaks.
Ways of knowing
Also new, the Wild Center recently opened a four-part exhibit called “Ways of Knowing” in partnership with the Akwesasne
Cultural Center, Six Nations Indian Museum and the Native North American Traveling College.
The exhibit, which will be up for three years, brings together several Native American tribal entities and indigenous knowledge experts to help the Center incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into its various attractions. For example, in “Thanksgiving Address” artist David Fadden’s colorful illustrations invite people to explore ways their lives are interconnected with the natural world.