“If Kirk makes
music and the animals respond, then it’s a pleasure for the humans
to respond too -- ‘cause afterall, we’re animals. [Zen giggle]”
- John Cage [from a video interview]
In pursuit of further vocal colors, Nurock began studying Charles Darwin's “The Expression of the Emotions in Man And Animals." In the 1980's, he began to integrate live animal sounds with choral & instrumental ensembles. These "cross-species" works include Howl (1980), The Bronx Zoo Events (1981), Sonata for Piano and Dog (1983) and Expedition (1984). Kirk's innovative "Instruments and Animals" series featured distinguished improvisors Jane Ira Bloom, Ned Rothenberg and Robert Dick, with canines, guinea pigs and a screech owl. A video-documentary, Animalsong, prod. & dir. by Burrill Crohn, chronicles the above works. These works appeared in national press and television (incl. Letterman, Koppel and the Today Show) and toured in the US, Europe and Canada.
