She is an eco-warrior of a different kind: cellist Olivia Gay begins a cycle of recitals in several forests in France to raise public awareness of the threats of climate change on trees, especially spruces, essential to her instrument.
From May 6, she will perform in a park in the Oise, in the forests of Saint Apolline in the Paris region, Aigoual, and especially in the forest of Teste-de-Buch in Gironde, ravaged by fires. last summer. “On July 12, I will play in this forest, a year to the day after the fire, to bring people back to the scene,” says the musician trained at the Paris Conservatory and in Germany. “By taking the public into the forest, I hope they can establish a direct link with this setting that surrounds them,” she adds.
Having become an ambassador for “Agir pour la forêt”, the endowment fund of the National Forestry Office, she signed a partnership in 2022 under which part of the profits from her concerts and the sale of her records is donated to maintain affected forests. A first cycle launched last year had contributed to the financing of the reforestation of the forest of Echarcon in the Paris region, decimated to more than 50% by the chestnut ink disease. “I grew up with nature, I was born near the Vosges and what really motivated me to get involved for the forest was the drought and these mega fires, a spectacular consequence and global warming”, says Olivia Gay at AFP.
“But there is also this silent death, due to the diseases that affect the trees” weakened by the drought, regrets the cellist, who lives on the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau near Paris. Like the bark beetle, a tiny insect that proliferates with climate change and ravages spruces by infiltrating under their bark. Since 2018, the bark beetle crisis has accelerated, particularly in the Northeast, and with it, the decline of forests.
Spruce tonewood is fundamental for making the soundboard of stringed instruments; it allows it to easily vibrate and resist the pressure of the bridge supporting the strings. Beyond the luthier aspect, Olivia Gay plays a cello from 1733 – on loan from Beare’s International Violin Society in London – and hopes that this immersive experience can raise awareness.
“As a classical musician with a passion for forests, I have always wondered how can I be of service to the preservation of the land by using my instrument as an emotional vector,” she says. His passion for the forest had already inspired his first albums, notably the third, Whisper me a tree (Whisper me a tree), released in September.
The repertoire she will play under the trees, accompanied by pianists Celia Onéto-Bensaid and Aurélien Ponti, is itself drawn from pieces related to nature, such as Le silence de la forêt by Dvorak or the suite Dans la forest by David Popper. To, she hopes, “send a message across France thanks to this mix between the music of nature and the music played”.