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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-18/harp-therapist-plays-for-animals-at-canberra-zoo/106887378>
“Most musicians would be disappointed if their performances were met with
silence.
But not Alison Ware.
Every fortnight, the Canberra harp therapist performs for some of her most
attentive audience members — rhinos, lemurs, lions and a school of Amazonian
fish at the National Zoo and Aquarium.
For the past five years, Ms Ware has been volunteering at the zoo, using music
as a form of animal enrichment.
Armed with several different harps of varying sizes, she moves between
enclosures, carefully adapting her performance to suit each animal.
"It's really like humans, some days we feel like music and some days we don't,"
she said.
Alison spends time watching each animal, adjusting the tempo, tone and volume
of the music as she gauges their response.
"The primates tend to like the smaller harp with a lighter sound and the rhinos
like deeper tones with a larger harp," she said.”
Via Esther Schindler.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
