Field Guide to American Birds was composed from winter 2024 to summer 2026 for the Akropolis Reed Quintet. It is one of the largest-scale works I have written and my second reed quintet. Interestingly, my third reed quintet, Birds-of-Paradise, was completed two months earlier. This is one of my official works to feature bird-call whistles as musical instruments, and is part of a series I call The Bird Whisperers.

This piece consists of five movements, each inspired by a bird commonly found in North America. In each movement, one member of the quintet takes a more prominent role, performing both on their primary instrument and on a bird-call whistle. I paired each bird with its featured instrument based on my sense of the instrument’s character. For example, the saxophone, often associated with a gentle and mellow timbre, is paired with a duck for humorous contrast, while the bassoon, typically the lowest voice in the ensemble, is instead paired with the highest-pitched bird, the hawk.

I have included many fun ideas throughout the piece, from the titles of the individual movements to the musical language and rhythmic patterns. One of my intentions as a composer is always to make people laugh, and I hope this piece does the same. Beneath its playful energy, however, I also hope the music invites listeners to appreciate the beauty of these birds and truly think about how we live alongside nature.

(Wenbin Lyu, August 25, 2026)

Season 2026-27 (premiere); Akropolis Quintet