Music

Music offers a new way to look at our resources and programs, and provides a method to reach new audiences through public programming, entertainment, and education.

Celebratory Symphony and Game

In recognition of the sanctuary's 30th anniversary a musical work by composer David MacKenzie was commissioned and an interactive musical game developed by Sound Explorations.  The composition explores the interaction of sanctuary species, particularly tiny plankton, schools of sand lance (a key forage fish), graceful great shearwaters (a common seabird), and massive humpback whales. Listen to a performance. Play the game and see how various human activities affect the status of these individual species and the interactions between them.

Eco-Cycle Game Video

Play the Stellwagen Eco-Cycle Game

Sanctuary Overture and Student Performance

The sanctuary has been working with a local composer and a Scituate, Massachusetts middle school orchestra to premier a musical overture about the sanctuary. The composition has been written, but the performance and recording have been delayed. Keep checking back to follow the progress of this unique project that combines science education and the arts.

Humpback Whale Songs

Humpback whales are famous for their complicated songs, filled with a variety of repeating sounds. Once thought to be sung by males only in the mating grounds, it is now known that these whales may be practicing and rewriting their songs in other parts of their migratory route, including feeding grounds, like Stellwagen Bank. Here are two examples of songs recorded in the sanctuary.