This engaging and fascinating event combined music and science in an innovative yet accessible way.

The set piece of the evening was musician Ellie Wilson playing a piece that was co-composed with moths, their data collected from two different research sites in the UK last year. There was a pre-recorded element as well as live synths and Wilson’s beautiful soaring violin. This was accompanied by a video piece, depicting a loose narrative of (understandably) some moths, beautifully animated and suitably immersive. Even with little context to the piece, I found myself utterly charmed by its haunting dreaminess.

Wilson then played us a selection of other pieces, all similarly accompanied by videography. Particularly notable and moving was a duet she played with her late grandfather - she’d recorded some of his memories as part of a school project as a child, and played them back, set into a soundscape of synths and with her swooping violin on top. I found myself really delighted by this type of atmospheric ambient music, its folk influences clearly audible. The effect, especially combined with the atmosphere of the museum, was almost hypnotic.

There was then a panel discussion with Wilson and a scientist from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (who provided her with data) revealing more of the context of the piece - and how exactly it was composed BY moths. This was really riveting, and I won’t clumsily paraphrase it for you - the project has been beautifully documented, here and here. Following this additional context, we heard the piece again - still beautiful, but richer with an understanding of the processes behind it.

It’s always an absolute delight to go the Natural History Museum at night. There’s a sense of naughtiness to it, somehow. It feels deliciously transgressive to drink wine under the skeleton of a T rex. As well as offering this opportunity after the music, there were also a couple of deeply absorbing stalls on moths, and the research that’s monitoring them. Did you know there’s a type of moth that makes a very specific squeaking noise, to impersonate a queen bee? This allows it to go in stealing honey. Fascinating, and a lovely additional treat on top of the music.

I don’t know much about contemporary classical music, and I know much less about moths, but this event welcomed me in, explaining the processes with clarity and enthusiasm. This was an inclusive, informative and fun event, and seemed such a perfect example of collaboration between the disciplines of ecology and music. I’ve already bought a packet of seeds to encourage more moths into my garden.