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Musicians and co-composers Wendy Reid and Lulu have lived and worked collaboratively for nearly two decades. It is impossible, and probably unimportant, to determine which of the two is the more dynamic performer. Reid is a gifted, classically-trained violinist whose extensive portfolio of work veers from classical music’s realm into contemporary new music. Lulu is an intuitive, improvisational, occasionally mercurial, and consistently mesmerizing vocalist who happens to be an African grey parrot.
Even so, human and bird on stage often appear to be symbiotically linked; communicating back and forth as if they have arrived from a planet other than Earth, where interspecies linguistic barriers do not exist.
Fortunately, Reid and Lulu are “flying in” to Bay Area venues with increasing frequency in 2025 and 2026. A City of Berkeley civic arts grant is providing vital support for Reid’s project, Ambient Bird-Berkeley (2025-26). Deliberately presenting the work outdoors, upcoming performances will feature pieces “Live Oak (9-22-2025),” “Indian Rock (3-20-2026),” and “Ohlone Park (5-16-2026).”
The atmosphere at their outdoor concerts is casual, with people invited to find seating on the grass and park benches or blankets and camping chairs brought from home. Some audience members choose to wander about, sampling the difference directionality and distance from the performers can make. Sounds of a creek, wind in the trees, bird calls, squirrels rustling in fallen leaves, and occasional sirens, vehicle engines, or human conversations add spontaneity and vulnerability to the ambiance.
Sometimes, Lulu is hit by stage fright and remains silent. An unruffled Reid, who records their living room sessions, comes prepared to circumnavigate the bird’s reticence. Lulu’s majestic presence and behavior calls for intense listening; the duo’s connection is charismatic, and becomes part of the score. Joined by the highly attuned members of Reid’s sfSOUND & the bird ensemble, every artist at their concerts holds a specialized, essential place.
In an email to 48hills, Reid says her next concert, for the fall equinox, is coming up on September 22 in Berkeley’s Live Oak Park (check her website for future dates). She’s hoping to write an opera based on Ambient Bird that will include text, video, invented instruments, and Lulu, and for the moment, Reid will continue to teach violin lessons in her Berkeley home. On some days, Lulu will offer critiques and helpful assists to students—squawks, screeches, singing out corrected notes, or the occasional spoken word. Other days, Lulu will remain silent, vigilantly alert, listening on a frequency into which humans rarely tap. In those moments, Lulu is Reid’s teacher and arguably, a model for all human beings seeking greater connection to the natural world and all sentient beings.
