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REEF
REEF is a groundbreaking oceanic adventure that stirs, challenges and delights. The composers' affinity with the natural world is present throughout and recordings from the world's coral reefs are interwoven to stunning effect with glorifying harmonies.
REEF is a registered community interest company. All profits are donated to coral reef conservation.
REEF is a c. 45 minute work, which brings to life the voices of the corals and its inhabitants in three movements.
REEF takes audiences on a thrilling adventure to the gardens beneath the sea. Where sharks, shrimps and a host of sea personalities sing their songs.
REEF celebrates the beauty of the world’s corals and the marine life which depend on them. We are creating the symphony now and will be launching soon.
Contact us to discover more and get involved:
reef@reefchorus.com
Colors of the reef
Credit: Juanma Clemente-Alloza
#REEF
story
Beautiful Corals With Sunrays
Credit: Milos Prelevic
About
REEF
The Album
Audiences are immersed in a coral soundscape. Upbeat rhythms introduce us to the the inhabitants of this underwater Neon City. https://jassyhusk.hearnow.com/ But then this carnival of colour and song is crushed by the rumbles of machinery and boat propeller beats. The mood darkens - representing the threats caused by human activity.
The coral reefs are in a fragile state. Global warming is bleaching the corals and has killed over 50 per cent of the world's reefs. It is time to embrace the changes that must happen now.
Next we turn to science. We use original recordings from the world's six largest coral reefs.
In a glorious intermingling of voices and harmonies, we conclude with a call for a greater appreciation of the natural world that we all depend on.
Support Reef Chorus Today
Purchase a artwork today and support making music with impact. All proceeds go to sounding for the Reef
All profits go to reef conservation groups working in the frontlines to educate and enable marine conservation.
Scientific Partnerships and
Research
We encourage established scientific/research institutions to partner with us get in contact.
The collaboration employs cutting-edge research as the inspiration for the musical materials and realisation. The narrative of the work is being developed in partnership with those working in the field, and reflects both the current state of coral reefs, and the scientific predictions for their future.
The work incorporates live field sound recordings from coral reefs, as well as the tones used by scientists to encourage coral reef growth. These are seamlessly woven into the musical composition and manipulated electronically using futuristic music production techniques.
Vibrant Coral Reef
Credit: Paul Colley, MYSHOT
A Healthy Reef in Fiji
Credit: Dive Magazine
Legacy and
Outreach
Alongside its live premiere, REEF will be released as a recording and available worldwide in an album format.
The work will be brought to life visually, in collaboration with visual artists, a dance company, or as a live installation.
REEF aims to be the catalyst for further creative and accessible music making by artists working in all genres as well as support scientific discovery and conservation awareness.
REEF
VOICES
Mai huli ‘oe I kokua o ke kai!
HAWAIIAN FOR "NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN"
Meet the REEF community. They have magical talents and unique special gifts. Did you know that a Pistol Shrimp has mean right-hander or that crabs hitch rides on Jelly Fish. Or that the star fish is the zombie of the ocean floor and has no blood and no brains! Instead they have sea water pumping through their veins. Some of the reefs inhabitants live to over 50 years and they all co-exist like a major city against a backdrop of chatter, conversation, calls and a myriad of languages. Come meet some of the friends of the reef and learn more about their superhero powers.
The reef is a complex ecosystem made from layers of calcium. This settlement of layers is echoed in the animals that live there, ranging from sharks and moray eels to small shrimp and crabs that dart quickly in and out of the corals. Millions of animals call the reef their home.
Crabs
What's that pop and crackle?
parrot fisH
Crabs, the bottom dwellers and the garbage collectors of the metropolis that is the reef.
Crabs scurry across the sand and are an invaluable contributor to the reef. They are shy and easy to scare, they peek out, run, stop, assess and hide. These hard-shelled environmentalists will be the last to leave their home in REEF when disaster hits.
Meet the cast of crabs here
grouper
Conservation status: critically endangered
The potato spotted grouper can live to be over 30 years old. A thinker, the grouper’s size means that it likes to live life at a slower pace, they are friendly, inhabit one spot around the reef and have been known to make friends with humans. There are even instances where they get to know divers and pose for photos!
In the warm waters off the Florida Keys lives a fish named Sylvia. She is six feet long and as friendly as a golden retriever. The deep tones of the double base represent the sound of our Grouper. As like the grouper the notes it makes can be a low, slow, deep sound.
Black Sea Nettle Jelly Fish
These fluorescent Jelly fish are huge and live in blooms. Coral usually feed on tiny plankton as well as products provided by photosynthetic algae.
Yet research has shown that corals can suck in jellyfish. Researchers believe the ability to feed on a variety of food sources like jellyfish may give the coral an advantage in a changing world.
These jelly fish are bell shaped invertebrates who go through multiple forms one of which is the Medusa stage. During which their bodies contain tentacle arms! Sea nettles sometimes act as transportation for other smaller animals. Crabs, for example, attach themselves to the bodies of the jellyfish and will snack on its body parts enroute. As a jelly fish can grow back its body parts, it does not mind at all!
The pauses in REEF draw inspiration from the paralysis the jelly fish uses to stun.
pistol shrimp
The pistol shrimp has a mean right-hander in the form of a huge claw. They pack such a punch to protect themselves and have a secret weapon. Their claw emits an air bubble that is hotter than the surface of the sun. When the bubble explodes, it creates shrimp-o-luminescence! Similar to a bright underwater lightning bolt. To this day no one can work how or why they do this.
Although quick with their fists, they are not aggressive. Pistol shrimps like to live in a community similar to an underwater hive. Bees hum to communicate. Likewise, pistol shrimps make a clicking sound. The volume of noise created by the shrimps’ conversations reach 210 decibels (a jet engine for comparison is 140DB). Their chatter even interferes with sonar and underwater communication. A healthy reef is in fact a noisy place no different from any other city.
Inspired by languages that have click sound that draw heavily on click consonants, or clicks. These are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa.
Meet the colony of pistol shrimp here
snapper
Conservation status: near threatened
The Snapper can grow to 50 pounds in weight and live to 50 years old. The world’s coral reefs are the maternity ward for this huge personality. Given its size and the high demand from consumers it is a very valuable fish.
There is a science-based plan in place to rebuild red snapper to healthier levels. It is working but will take time. If implemented properly, management agencies hope to restore the population to sustainable levels by 2032.
starfish
The starfish has magical power. It can regenerate from a single tentacle, it is perpetually in a cycle of life, a round. They are represented in REEF by a perpetual canon where voices sing the same melody with each voice beginning at a different time. The star fish melody regenerates as the star fish does.
The starfish is the zombie of the ocean floor it has no blood or brains. Instead they have sea water pumping through their veins. They move by propulsion and have eyes on the ends of their tentacles! They are at the mercy of the reef and storms without a reef to protect them, they can be swept from the beds where they feed on the shore in great numbers.
Conservation status: heightened risk of extinction in the coral triangle
Parrot fish digest the edible portions from the rock and coral, they excrete it as sand, helping create small islands and the sandy beaches. The hump head parrotfish can produce 90 kg (200 lb) of sand each year.
You can hear the fizz of the sand, we think it sounds like an old record player spinning, or the white noise from a TV. Parrot fish really do sound like a bag of crisps being opened.
Meet the school of parrot fish here
leafy sea dragon
Conservation status: near threatened
These delightful seahorses are ethereal and found along the southern and western coasts of Australia. The name is derived from the appearance, with long leaf-like protrusions coming from all over the body.
These protrusions are not used for propulsion; they serve only as camouflage.
The leafy seadragon propels itself by means of a pectoral fin on the ridge of its neck and a dorsal fin on its back closer to the tail end. These small fins are almost completely transparent and difficult to see as they undulate minutely to move the creature sedately through the water, completing the illusion of floating seaweed.
In REEF we mimic their graceful passage through the waters.
Popularly known as "leafies", it is the marine emblem of the state of South Australia and a focus for local marine conservation. Ethereal using only one fin for propulsion, they drift in the Kelp forests, and use sea weed for camouflage. They respond to the ebb and flow of the tides. Hear her float in to view like the morning sun on the horizon.
triggerfish
In Hawaiin the triggerfish is called humuhumunukunukuapuaa, which is pronounced “who moo who moo new coo new coo ah poo ah ah” which literally means trigger fish with a pig like snout.
Can you hear the Trigger fishes tribal sounding Hawaiian name in the REEF.
There are many languages in REEF but of all the words we use, this has to be the longest!
The REEF Team
Jassy Husk
Coral Reef in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea
Credit: Guilhem Banc-Prandi
Jassy Husk is a co-founder of REEF a non-profit reef conservation community interest company registered in the UK. And an award-winning critically acclaimed music artist. Jassy performs internationally, collaborates with the world's leading luxury brands and artists she has sung on the soundtracks for major films such as Snow White and the Huntsman.
She has worked with the world’s most significant conductors, coaches, and performers, including: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dennis O’Neill CBE, Richard Bonynge Order of Australia CBE, Dr.Richard Miller and Pete Tong on his Ibiza Classics album.
Classically trained, Jassy studied at the Royal College of Music, graduated with a Master's degree from the Wales International Academy of Voice, she was coached as an Opera Works Young Artist at English National Opera.
Jassy was born in Tasmania, Australia and lives in Singapore. Stream/download her latest single Neon City. All profits go to charities supported by REEF.
Coral Reef, the Rain Forest of the Ocean
Credit: Scuba Joe
Victoria Silberbauer
Victoria Silberbauer has been a lawyer for over 20 years.
She originally qualified to practice as a lawyer in Victoria, Australia, and is now qualified in England and Wales. She spent the majority of her career as an inhouse commercial and media lawyer, particularly in film and newspapers, but she has also worked in mid to large tier law firms.
Her time as an in-house lawyer gave her deep experience of the legal, management and operational needs of the publishing and digital advertising industries. Her experience also covers film and television, sports rights, online gaming, digital publishing and e-commerce. She has now extended her skills to being the COO of a startup enterprise which operates mainly in the newspaper and magazine publishing industries. In this capacity she not only applies her legal knowledge but is also involved with all aspects of the development of a growing business, including product development, risk management, and account management.
She is passionate that the creative industries and journalism are vital to the wellbeing of society, and can bring about positive and necessary change. She is committed to supporting the business of creativity and journalism, to provide the economic foundation to encourage the growth and vitality of both.
Turtle on the reef in Western Australia
Credit: Alex Kydd
A Not-for-Profit
We are a not-for-profit. Our activities provide benefit to conservation organisations and research institutions which are trying to preserve coral reefs around the world. The company does this by raising awareness of the plight of the world's coral reefs and by encouraging donations to these organisations. We raise awareness by commissioning music that is themed around coral reefs. The preservation of the coral reefs is a benefit to all communities, as they are an important eco-system. Coral reefs contribute to the health of the oceans, the health of coastal environments, as well as being an important tourism resource.
Performances (whether live or broadcast) of the single Neon City and symphony, will raise awareness of the plight of the coral reefs, their precarious state, their importance to ocean eco-systems and the necessity of preserving them. By creating this awareness we hope the people will i) change behaviours that are leading to the damage of the reefs, (ii) change behaviours that are contributing to climate change (iii) be motivated to support reef preservation organisations and research institutions (iv) create social pressure on governments to act to preserve reefs.
Corals Under the Full Moon
Credit: Alex Kydd
Credit: Business Insider Australia
Reduce your plastic consumption
Plastic pollution is one of the greatest threats to ocean health worldwide. Start with purchasing a reusable water bottle, a metal straw and a reusable shopping bag.
These 3 basic items would already help you cut down on plastic consumption significantly.
Remember: even small actions lead to big changes!
Credit: Michael Spooneybarger / REUTERS
Volunteer for ocean conservation organisations
Whether you live next to the ocean itself or any other body of water, participate in local beach clean-ups or organise your own.
Beach clean-ups are also an opportunity to gather fresh data about the state of our coasts and the types of trash that pollutes them. By identifying the most harmful debris items, environmental groups can find ways to stop them from entering the ocean or being littered again in beaches.
Spread the message
Raise awareness in your communities, support REEF and other movements which focus on education and outreach.
Music is a universal language that everyone understands. This is why we chose to convey the message about the importance of coral reefs by creating new works telling the stories of the Coral Reefs.
Support Coral Reefs today!
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Partner with us to spread the message
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Download/stream Neon City
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Shop in our store
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