Celebrate the return of the nightingales with this special late-night live broadcast.
This event has finished. Find our upcoming Singing With Nightingales events here.
Join us on a journey deep into the Sussex woods, and discover the unmistakable sound of the nightingale.
On 12th April folk singer and author of ‘The Nightingale’ Sam Lee will be nestled in the nightingale’s habitat, beaming this live broadcast to you as the nightingale begins his famous mating call.
This audio pilgrimage will weave in a series of remarkable duets with the nightingale’s song, including invited special guests and public offerings, as we mark this special moment in the calendar with extraordinary music. We’re delighted to bring the magic of music and nature to you in the comfort of your own home.
This special broadcast is available for free. We will be asking listeners to consider supporting us with a donation during the show.
With this broadcast we are raising funds to support the work we do at the Nest Collective.
The Nest Collective is a not-for-profit organisation, dedicated to bringing people together to experience extraordinary music, and rekindling connections with nature, tradition and community. Income from our box office and partnership work can only cover a small part of the costs of delivering our award-winning programme and our work in communities.
With your support we can continue to ensure our work is accessible, whilst reaching more people through our in-person and online programme. We can take risks, and break new boundaries, and continue to bring the finest talent in global music to a global audience.
Click here to donate to The Nest Collective
Each year, for a short period mid-April, a few thousand nightingales fly to southern UK from Africa. They can be heard in just a small number of special locations, taking up songful residence after dusk. The territorial males serenade loyally each night for no more than six weeks among the blackthorn and forest margins, giving unbelievable privilege to those who know where to go.
In this modern age, with biodiversity in decline and habitats being eroded, the nightingale has become representative of all that we have to lose. It is a small, brown, unremarkable-looking bird, but it possesses one of nature’s finest singing voices. The numbers visiting England have declined so sharply that it is now on the UK’s Red List of species at the greatest conservation risk.
On 12th April 2023 we will mark this occasion by listening to possibly the first singing nightingale of the season, with Sam Lee microphone-ready at their reliable Sussex habitat.
Whether you’re in Copenhagen or Carlisle, Manhattan or Madrid, we invite you to Sussex for the evening to enjoy one of nature’s most captivating arias.
We are so delighted to have received a number of amazing submissions for this broadcast from the public, sending their music and poetry in offerings to the nightingales and nature.
This broadcast will include submissions from: Debs Newbold and Sxip Shirey, The Noisy Women, Wilderthorn, Amy Jane Beer, 0thersongs, Nick Penny, Mary Druganova, Holly Ebony, The Happy Couple, and Kate Walton.
“A remarkable broadcast” – Songlines Magazine
“A true delight and privilege to be able to hear the nightingales and music like this all the way in the Rocky Mountains”
“Brilliant making the hairs on the back of my neck tingle”
“So ethereal and such a wonderful new discovery to soothe the soul”
“I’ve tuned into everything and loved it all. It’s been one of the highlights of the lockdown.”
“Genuinely the most enjoyable live streams of lockdown. You conjure a beautiful atmosphere through words, music and birdsong. Utterly transporting.”
“Such a peaceful and healing occasion each night in all the uncertain times we are currently experiencing. A truly magical and wonderful experience.”
“I so loved the evenings, the intimacy, the space within it, the birdsong… it was full of feeling.”
“So magical listening to the wonderful collaborations between people and birds”
“Breathtakingly beautiful – heartstopping – blissful and transformative”
Mercury Prize-nominated folk singer, conservationist, song collector, award-winning promoter, broadcaster and activist.
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