Aussie creatives collaborate for World Orangutan Day with Nightingale Floor music and film project

Australian musician Sallie Campbell has composed a musical opus in honour and support of the plight of the orangutans and their rapidly disappearing forest habitat, to be released on the inaugural World Orangutan Day on August 19.

Together with a three-minute film clip and a second instrumental film clip, in its entirety, Nightingale Floor is a 20-minute contemporary classical/world treatise to natural wonder and breaking free, from internal and external prisons. Dedicated to the original ‘people of the forest’, it is written for an 11-piece string section and three soloists. All funds raised by sales will go to the Orangutan Lands Trust.

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A composer and multi-instrumentalist, Campbell drew support and assistance for the project from peers and friends including Kate Miller-Heidke, whose ethereal vocals feature in the song. Actor Sarah Snook (Predestination, Not Suitable For Children, Sisters Of War) stars in the clip. Writer and director David Barker, Daniel Denholm (Australian Chamber Orchestra, Powderfinger) who recorded and produced the track, and featured soloist composer/multi-instrumentalist John Rodgers, complete the all star team.

Campbell is an ardent campaigner for the orangutan and the forests they inhabit.

Says Campbell: “The situation is urgent, it’s right now. The last wild orangutans on the earth live in Malaysia and Indonesia. If people knew the food and products they were consuming were wiping out forests and all the beautiful creatures that live there, they wouldn’t buy them.

“As consumers we can do so much. We must demand proper labeling on palm oil products and tell companies that use unsustainable palm oil that we won’t buy them. With our partner, The Orangutan Land Trust (OLT), we support their work in providing sustainable solutions for the long-term survival of the orangutan in the wild.”

With a passion for the environment, the final straw was Campbell’s inspiration and humility over the commitment of her ten-year-old niece, Grace.

Says Campbell: “She’s been campaigning for the orangutans since she was five years old – it’s jawdropping. As a musician I wanted to help but I didn’t know where to take it further. This project has brought that depth of meaning and significance I’ve been searching for creatively.

“The forests really are our lungs and I feel moved to help them through the national release of Nightingale Floor.”

Barker (also currently working with Aquarius Films and Snook on a forthcoming feature film) said that whilst the clip represents the theme of ‘breaking free from cages within our hearts’, it also symbolises how a shift in perception can provide hope for the orangutans.

Says Barker: “The natural wonder, which draws the protagonist forward in the video, is analogous to the orangutan. We want people to believe in the idea of natural wonders; we want to create a sense of hope, while at the same time creating an emotive artistic statement that people will want to purchase.

“The idea of hope was always in the forefront of our minds. It’s important that we see hope not only presented in the music and the video, but understood in the wider context of their plight.”

Says Campbell: “The single, most important thing we can do to save the orangutan is to insist that the palm oil used in products is produced in a sustainable way, and not at the expense of orangutans and their habitat.”

All funds raised from the sale of the song film clip, the instrumental film clip and the master strings piece will go to the Orangutan Lands Trust.

For more information and to support the Nightingale Floor campaign, visit www.nightingalefloor.com.au.

NF Music

Editor: Dan Eady