Steel City Strings: Why Forest Bathing?

As someone who grew up in rural Alabama, I’ve always felt that nature wasn’t something separate from us, it was something we were part of. My father was a horticulturalist, so much of our lives happened outdoors: planting, walking, watching seasons shift. Nature was just… there. Constant, grounding, necessary.

As I moved through bigger cities and busier lives, I found myself returning to those moments. Searching for quiet trails, spending time in gardens, or even just pausing to look at trees. I began to realise how deeply I needed those connections to keep balance in my life.

This longing for peace, connection, and natural beauty is what inspired Forest Bathing. The concert draws its name from the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, which means immersing oneself in the forest atmosphere for renewal and reflection. The music we’ve chosen captures the essence of nature. Not only its serenity, but also its wildness, mystery, and spiritual richness.

You’ll hear Caroline Shaw’s The Evergreen, a piece born from a single tree on a hike; Elena Kats-Chernin’s Singing Trees, which reflects on the living wood that makes up our instruments; Adrian Whitehall’s The Nature of Space, which captures fleeting beauty glimpsed from a train window; and Peter Sculthorpe’s Sonata for Strings No. 2, a powerful homage to the Australian landscape.

We’re also proud to present two newly commissioned works: Forest Bathing by Katia Beaugias, inspired by the natural worlds of both Sydney and Paris, and South Eastern Sketches by Indigenous composer Gabriel Frømyhr, which draws on the rich landscape of the Yass and Canberra region.

I hope this concert offers you a moment to pause. To breathe. To listen closely, not just to music, but to the quiet parts of yourself that nature so often awakens. We’d love to share this experience with you.