Wild Notes Field Residencies
Exploring the relationship between music and the natural world through research, creative work, and public performance.
About our Field Residencies
What is a Field Residency?
Wild Notes Field Residencies give classical musicians the opportunity to spend dedicated time in a natural environment, studying its sounds, ecosystems, and character, and using those experiences to inform their music.
Each residency centers on a specific place and a guiding research question. Artists spend several days or longer conducting independent fieldwork, which may include listening walks, ecological observation, journaling, photography, and conversations with park interpreters or other local experts.
Their experiences become the foundation for new musical work, whether through original composition, arrangement, or a fresh interpretation of familiar repertoire.
Every residency also includes a free public concert that connects the music with the environment in which it is performed.
The goal is to support meaningful artistic research while creating opportunities for audiences to experience classical music, learn about local ecosystems, and develop a deeper appreciation for the natural spaces around them.
How Field Residencies Work
Although each residency is designed around a different environment and research question, all Wild Notes Field Residencies share three main components.
1. Fieldwork & Research
The resident artist spends dedicated time exploring the residency location, listening to its soundscape, observing ecological relationships, and learning about the environment.
Depending on the location and project, fieldwork may include hiking, wildlife observation, sound recording, reading, journaling, or conversations with naturalists and park staff.
Artists document their experiences throughout the residency, creating a record of the observations and ideas that will inform their musical work.
2. Free Public Concert
Each residency includes a free, place-responsive classical music performance in a park or natural setting.
These concerts combine live music with brief interpretation that connects the repertoire to the environment. Audiences might learn about the sounds and rhythms of a particular ecosystem, the relationships among its living communities, or the ways the artist's fieldwork influenced their musical decisions.
As with all Wild Notes programming, performances are unamplified, designed to have a minimal environmental footprint, and open to the public. Standard park admission may apply.
3. Creative Work & Field Journal
Following the residency, the artist develops a musical response to their experience. This may be an original composition, an arrangement, or an adaptation of existing music.
Each residency also produces a digital field journal or written reflection documenting the research, observations, and creative process. Selected photographs, field recordings, and video may also be included.
These materials are published through Wild Notes Foundation so the public can explore the work beyond the live performance.
Artists have up to six months following their residency to complete and submit their final creative materials.
Current Residencies
Galveston Island, TX | December 30, 2026 -- January 3, 2027
What does an island sound like?
The inaugural Wild Notes Field Residency takes place on Galveston Island, where cellist and Wild Notes founder Dr. Mandy Guilfoyle will explore the island's coastal ecosystems through listening, observation, and musical research.
The five-day residency will include fieldwork across Galveston Island, a free public cello concert at Galveston Island State Park, and the development of a new solo-cello work informed by the experience.
A digital field journal and the completed musical work will be shared following the residency.
Upcoming & Get Involved
Future Residencies
Wild Notes Foundation is developing Field Residencies as an ongoing program, with the goal of supporting musicians working in a variety of landscapes and ecosystems.
Future residencies may take place in state and national parks, nature preserves, botanical gardens, and other natural spaces. Each project will be developed around a specific research question, with the residency's length and activities tailored to the artist and location.
As the program grows, Wild Notes plans to invite other professional musicians to participate through paid residencies using an application-based selection process.
Information about future artist opportunities will be announced as the program develops.
Support Field Residencies
Field Residencies require resources beyond those of a single public concert. Funding supports artist compensation, travel and lodging, research materials, public performance costs, and the creation and publication of original artistic work.
Contributions allow Wild Notes to provide meaningful paid opportunities for musicians while keeping public concerts and published creative materials accessible to everyone.
Wild Notes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We welcome support from individuals, foundations, businesses, and community partners interested in music, environmental education, and creative approaches to conservation engagement.