Bird whistlers add local notes to Spokane Symphony’s ‘Pines of Rome’

The world’s original songsters will get a featherweight share of the spotlight at the Spokane Symphony this weekend as two “bird whistlers” add a local note to the orchestra’s “World of Melodies” performances.

The third movement of Ottorino Respighi’s “Pines of Rome” traditionally features the recorded call of a nightingale, the likes of which the Italian composer first used in 1924.

Spokane Symphony music director Eckart Preu imagined that a live rendition would be a step up and started searching for talent. When he learned the nightingale isn’t native to North America, he jumped at the suggestion to weave in sounds of local birds.

Preu approached The S-R’s beloved columnist Paul Turner, who put out the call on July 30 in The Slice for “someone who can sound like a bird.”

Who could fit that slot better than a classically trained singer who started whistling and communicating with birds when she as a kid?

“My father was an avid birder and gave me an appreciation for birds as we hiked,” said Simone Ramel-McKay.

After she studied music at the San Francisco Conservatory, it dawned on her father that her pipes and ear for pitch could be a birding asset.

“We’d be out on a hike and he’d say, ‘Hey, can you mimic that bird call? I can’t see that bird and I’d like to bring it in closer.’

“I would try and come out with some semblance of the call, usually a whistle, and to my surprise it often would work.”

Whistling has been part of her repertoire and outdoor recreation ever since, and long before apps put bird songs in the pocket of anyone with a smartphone.

“I love whistling,” she said, noting that when she used to live in an apartment, whistling was more tolerable for close neighbors than belting out her singing part in an upcoming musical.

Ramel-McKay works for Spokane County Emergency Management and her current home northeast of Spokane has a yard of pines, wild rose and other shrubs that attract all sorts of bird species.

“I’ve been able to call a (Lazuli) bunting in my backyard, and a pewee, and I love to talk to the black-capped chickadees.”

Tom Askman, an Eastern Washington University art professor, sculptor and avid whistler, will be co-starring in the symphony’s brief birding moment.

“I’ve whistled my way through life,” he said, noting that through the years he’s discovered a gift for mimicking sounds.

“I can do a crow like a crow and a goose like a goose,” he said before launching into a convincing cacophony of honking.

Growing up in Wyoming, Askman enjoyed talking to meadowlarks and responding to their song, which he plans to perform with the symphony.

“The meadowlark has a joyous song with a difficult high-pitched last note,” Ramel-McKay said. “Even a coloratura couldn’t hit it.”

“I enjoy a challenge,” Askman said.

Neither of the whistlers is a serious bird watcher. “I love watching birds,” Askman said. “I have a bird book, but I’m not one of those addicted birders.”

Spokane Audubon Society members have been helping the whistlers with resources and expertise, and they plan to have specimens of birds featured in the concert on display at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox.

“I’ve been given books that show bird songs in musical notes, and one book shows how bird songs likely inspired some of the works by Beethoven and other composers,” Ramel-McKay said.

Some bird songs are intricate and nearly impossible to imitate. However, humans can master the songs and calls of many species. The western wood-pewee and the monotonous single or double toots of the northern pygmy owl are among the easiest to mimic.

“The black-headed grosbeak has a very complex song and I don’t think I could do it justice,” Ramel-McKay said. “But I might incorporate a warbler or one of the five or six delightful songs of the house finch.”

Bird songs, much like the music the skilled orchestra musicians will be playing, are more than a collection of notes. For example, rhythm and tempo are critical in bird communication.

Marsh wrens sing in a hurry – like a rock guitarist in a torrid riff – while white-throated sparrows are much more leisurely, maybe just three whistles and two notes.

The distinctive notes for a species might be clear or scratchy, bright or dull, precise or trill and much more.

The song of the white-crowned sparrow, as described by the “Sibley Guide to Birds,” “begins with clear whistles like the white-throated (sparrow) then a series of buzzes or trills on different pitches; varies regionally.”

“You might have to manipulate your tongue and lips to mimic a certain bird,” Ramel-McKay said. “I use my diaphragm to control air over my vocal chords. Notes may be clear or breathy.”

Some birds, such as various flycatchers, look so similar they’re sometimes impossible to identify visually even in the hands of an ornithologist. But all that uncertainty vanishes to the trained ear as soon as the bird opens its mouth.

The two Spokane whistlers are still working out their parts just days before the Saturday and Sunday concerts. Thursday they’ll find out whether they’ll be on- or off-stage, or perhaps calling to each other from the stage to the balcony.

“It’s a short bit, but we’re thinking of it as a 60-second composition with a start and finish, not just a bunch of random bird calls without any purpose,” Ramel-McKay said.

We don’t hear people whistling too much nowadays since the Andy Griffith Show went down the tubes and earphones started plugging so many ears.

The Spokane Symphony performances will be a pleasant reminder that some of the best music comes from birds, and a breath of fresh air.