
The Arboretum Sound Lab is a living sound installation in the UC Davis Arboretum, near Wyatt Deck and on the south side of Putah Creek toward the Gorman Museum of Native American Art. Musicians take part alongside plants, birds, wind, water and other elements of the landscape. Composer and music philosopher Karlton Hester (UC Santa Cruz) conceived the project with Pierpaolo Polzonetti (UC Davis), as part of Imagining America’s National Gathering, “Tides of Transition: Restoring Collective Spirit in Troubled Times.”
Musicians participating: Maleelah Acker (flute), Renato Barsuglia (electric guitar), Juan Diego Díaz (berimbau), Paul Engle (electric guitar), Juan Manuel Jaramillo Lleras (live electronics, percussion), Karlton Hester (soprano saxophone, flute, piccolo), Charlie Hankin (violin), Ariana Karp (cello), Beth Levy (violin), Joseph Martin (keyboard), Colin Minigan (bass), Samuel Nelson (trumpet, spoons), Portia Njoku (tuba, sousaphone), Kira O’Grady (oboe), Pierpaolo Polzonetti (tenor saxophone, quena, clarinet), Damien Stoffel (clarinet, Afro-Cuban percussion), Vodzi Torgboh (Kpetsi: Ewe drum) and Aleyna Wilgermein (trombone).









