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Kaua'i 'o'o - The Last Song (Transcribed & Performed)

The last known sound recording of the Kaua'i 'o'o (1987). Tragically, the last song is a mating call that, in vain, tries to attract a female that no longer exists.This following transcription aims to prevent this jewel from falling into oblivion by making it accessible to musicians. Download the score below.

Special thanks to Kalas Liebfried for commissioning this transcription as part of his project "Fragments of Sonic Extinction" (https://www.sonicextinction.net/) and to @rldavisiv for sharing the original recording on YouTube.

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Alexander Liebermann is a German-French composer of classical music, whose acclaimed works are characterized by an eclectic blend of diverse topics such as philosophy, biology, astronomy, and other fields. Among his most recent commissions are a climate-change-reflecting monodrama written for the Deutsche Oper Berlin, a birdsong-inspired wind quintet for the Brazilian Winds Ensemble, and a soundtrack for the documentary film ‘Frozen Corpses Golden Treasures.’

As a passionate nature enthusiast, Liebermann spends much of his time studying the sounds of wildlife. He is known for his original and accurate transcriptions of animal vocalizations, which have gone viral on social media and been featured in the world-renowned magazine National Geographic. These transcriptions have also earned him invitations to international congresses in Colombia and Brazil, as well as a feature on CBS Sunday Morning. Liebermann is the author of Birdsong: A Musical Field Guide, a book that offers a unique perspective on the musicality of birds and their relationship to human music-making.

Liebermann holds degrees from the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and Manhattan School of Music. For his thesis on Erwin Schulhoff, Liebermann was awarded the Saul Braverman Award in Music Theory. Liebermann currently resides in New York and serves as a faculty member for music theory and ear training at Juilliard’s preparatory division Music Advancement Program.

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Alicia will be talking about her latest book, Burnout Recovery.

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Alicia King Anderson has a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her dissertation on The Storyteller Archetype explores the responsibilities of storytellers. She was particularly struck by the healing functions of storytelling that were made very clear in her research. Her areas of interest include career pivot and transition, trauma, burnout, fairy tales (particularly fairy tale retellings), mythology retellings, as well as archetypal symbols such as the tarot and unicorns.

https://aliciakinganderson.com/

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Meeting the Wind was created during a one week residency on Ynys Enlli, a small island off the coast of North West Wales. Whilst there, a fierce storm blew in and we were cut off for the week with only what we had brought with us and what the island offered. I abandoned my original plans and decided to work with the energy that the wind and waves brought.

Exploring the beach for storm debris, I first met a little strand of seaweed bobbing upwards out of a larger pile, dancing by itself in the wind – a performance of more than human bodies in relation with one another. Further along, the beach offered me a rare five-stranded bladderwrack holdfast that suggested the form of a cloak. Wearing it around my shoulders, the heavy wet strands flapped and cracked in the wind and offered the possibility of being brought back to life through movement, inspired by the little dancing strand I had seen earlier.

Spreading the cloak out to dry, it became a bird, an eagle from the sea waiting to be set free in the wind again. I plaited and wove thongweed from the piles washing up daily on the harbour beach, binding the strands into a wearable form, until I was ready to venture to the most Westerly edge of the island to greet the gale as it arrived on land. Together, the seaweed and I danced according to the whims of the wind, creating a performance that celebrated our combined energy and highlighted the precarity of both human and more than human amid the force of the elements.

BIOGRAPHY

Alison is an award winning multi-disciplinary artist, working across performance, installation and social engagement.

Alison’s work seeks to invite re-enchantment with the natural world. She creates ritual moments; immersive journeys; interactive installations and sculptures; and spaces for performance and social engagement. The embodied sensory relationship between audience, place, and story is at the heart of her practice; and sustainability and permaculture thinking underpin the process. Alison mostly works in public spaces, inviting accidental encounters and offering the unexpected within the everyday.

Alison’s recent work includes participatory performances and installations created with National Trust, Creative Folkestone; and as part of the Kent National Landscape & Pas de Calais UNESCO Geopark. She was recently one of 8 Future Wales Fellows, supported by Arts Council Wales, Natural Resources Wales & Peak Cymru.

Teaching and facilitation are core parts of Alison’s practice, and she runs workshops in scenography, sustainable creative practice, and bespoke co-creation activities for people from tiny to elder and from all walks of life. She is an Associate Lecturer at Central St Martins on BA Performance: Design & Practice; a regular tutor at Rose Bruford College, and a certified Carbon Literacy Facilitator, leading on the development and delivery of Carbon Literacy training course for creatives.

Upcoming: Nids Terrestres - L'école au Channel, Le Channel, Calais June 2026

Earth Nest / Nyth Daear, part of Coed Coexist, Plas Glyn Y Weddw,

17th May-12th July 2026

Leading on delivery of Carbon Literacy Training for Theatre Designers and their associates with Society of British Theatre Designers.

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