Art and music has always been at the heart of Forests Without Frontiers’ work – and our new multi-media project, which premieres today, has won Cambridge Conservation Initiative’s Endangered Landscapes Programme Arts Prize
In a clearing in the woods in Transylvania’s mountains, 79-year-old Silvia Dan sings a traditional song (doina) inherited from her grandmother. Her voice somehow captures the beauty and magic of the forest – and she goes on to talk of her love of the land and her sadness at seeing recent destruction.
Silvia is one of the stars of Interbeing, a multi-media project by Forests Without Frontiers (FWF) founder, DJ /producer Nico de Transilvania (Nicoleta Carpineanu). A concept album weaves together recordings of elders and musicians in Romania with nature soundscapes in an electronic composition, while accompanying film and photography tell the stories of people, landscape and challenges faced. Funds raised will be used to plant trees in the area Interbeing was recorded.
And this week Interbeing was announced as the winner of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Endangered Landscapes Programme Arts Prize!
“It’s such an honour to win”
“This project encompasses everything that I’ve wanted to do for a long time – bringing together music, art and environmental preservation. Hearing our compositions come together to express the beautiful culture and nature of my homeland is an incredible experience.”
Nicoleta Carpineanu
As well as featuring Silvia Dan and Nico herself, the sounds of nature run through the compositions, from cuckoos in an ancient beech forest to crickets in the meadows. Nico first met Silvia when she visited some of the elders that FWF provided food boxes for during the 2020 covid pandemic in Nucsoara village. She was struck by her voice and stories, and inspired to apply for the CCI grant to return and start Interbeing.
On a second trip in July 2022 (partly funded by the Romanian Arts Cultural Fund), recording expanded to a range of musicians, including a saxophonist and trumpeter from the Bucharest Radio Jazz Orchestra. The sounds of a local flute player Vasile and his 14-year-old daughter and friend feature too. The resulting album is a folk-jazz-electronic mix, giving traditional doinas such as Cucu (Cuckoo) and Munte, Munte Brad Frumos (Beautiful Pine Tree) a modern twist.
“We want to preserve the songs and reinterpret them in a way which also appeals to the younger generations,” said Nico. “Silvia learnt them from her ancestors and if we don’t give them new life, they will disappear. The elders know the stories of nature and are the ultimate guardians of the forests. The sounds of nature, from crickets to insects recorded in the meadows, are constantly there on Interbeing – reminding us of our place in the natural world and the need to protect it.”
Other locals from the village community were involved in Interbeing, from the church choir to the seamstress who provided traditional clothes for the film. People had the chance to tell stories of their lives and of the changes to the natural landscape which is rapidly being destroyed. The grant helped pay the artists and technicians which means all money from donations and album sales goes back into regenerating that area through planting trees with FWF.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship between people and nature,” said Nico. “Through their artistry the performers help regenerate their own landscapes, as well as their community and traditions.”
It’s four years since Nico released her first album Be One, which, in perfect symmetry, had similar beginnings to Interbeing. While working out in Romania on forest protection projects, Nico met Babu Ion, an elder flute player, and decided to apply for a grant to record him playing traditional songs. It was funds from that first album that planted trees in Romania and led to Forests Without Frontiers being born.
“The power of music and arts can bring people together to celebrate and protect the natural world and each other. Our aim is to bring nature back to life and people back to nature!” said Nico.
The judging panel for the Endangered Landscape Programme’s Art Prize unanimously agreed that the quality of engagement, production, and connection to the landscape and restoration in Interbeing was outstanding.
“Listening to her music really moved me, there was a bit of magic at work. She brought the landscape alive. Nico weaves together a sense of quiet, deep intuition and a profound commitment to the landscape and the planting of the trees. She has entwined and rooted herself into the cultural scene and reaches young and old people through contemporary music which is exciting,’ said artist and panelist Heather Ackroyd.
Interbeing premieres at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London on 21th October and it will be released on all platforms on the 11th of November. Here is a short video for the album.
A tour of a live show is planned for next year.
Artists credits
Nico de Transilvania – Artistic Director, composer and producer
Silvia Dan – Granddaughter of Maria Cîrstoiu a famous folk singer
Vasile Stanciulescu – Flute player and 14-year-old daughter
David Alexander Yeoman – Piano and forest soundscape recordings
Abstract Source (Jules Dickens) – Sound editor, mixer and co-producer
Laurentiu Moise (Bucharest Radio Jazz Orchestra) – Saxophone
Paulo Profeti (Bucharest Radio Jazz Orchestra) - Trumpet
Andrew Ruhemann (Passion Pictures Founder/EP) – Film consultant
Jamie Catto (Faithless co-founder) – Music consultant
Marius Șumlea – Photographer
Răzvan Leucea & Alex Maxim (Monolit Studio) – Director of Photography & Editor
Interbeing is a concept album which weaves together recordings of elders and traditional musicians in Romania with nature soundscapes in an electronic composition. Accompanying film and photography tells the stories of people, landscape and environmental challenges faced. Below is the song list and their stories…
Song list
Nico takes you on a journey … through Nucsoara’s ancient beech forest
Săracă Inima Mea (My poor longing heart) - feat. Nico de Transilvania … a Romanian traditional doina passed to Nico from her grandmother, mother and auntie, which is about healing a broken heart through music and good company
Munte munte, brad frumos (Mountain mountain, beautiful pine tree) - feat. Silvia Dan … traditional doina of the area in which the singer is in intimate conversation with the pine tree
Copilărie (Childhood) - feat. Silvia Dan … encompassing all the musicians from the album, including snippets of local elder Silvia speaking of her childhood near the forests and two local youth on flute
Loom the concept for this song started in Nico’s kitchen while she was playing the spoons alongside David on the keys, combined with recordings from the 2019 Loom art installation from India’s Biennale
Cucu - Cuckoo feat. Silvia Dan … a song Silvia learned from her mother describing the cuckoo’s journey through the forests, leaving behind its babies to be looked after by other birds whilst it spreads its song
Nature Soundscape … recorded by David Alexander Yeoman in the forests and Nucsoara village
Produced and directed by Nico de Transilvania. Co-produced by Abstract Source and David Alexander Yeoman. Filmed by Razvan Leucea (edited by Alex Maxim). Photography by Marius Sumlea. Artwork by Adam Freeland (using Midjourney AI) and graphics by Marius Bugeac