‘Songs for the Mist Forest’
New album due to be release June 2025 on Blackford Hill.
‘Songs for the Mist Forest’ is the second album by
childhood friends, classical guitarist Morgan Szymanski
and artist / musician Tommy Perman. While their first
album ‘Music for the Moon and the Trees’ explored the
sounds of the flora and fauna of a woodland near Kinross,
Scotland where Tommy lives, their new album takes
Morgan’s home in Valle de Bravo, Mexico as its inspiration.
The music evolved from a soundtrack the pair produced
for a documentary film ‘El Dragón de los Bosques de
Niebla’ (The Dragon of the Mist Forest). The documentary
shines a light on the ecocide that’s happening in Valle de
Bravo. Overdevelopment by humans is destroying the
forests that are home to Abronias, beautiful small reptiles
native to the region and the ‘dragons’ of the film’s title.
Tragically, many other native species of plants and
animals are also under threat.
Through 11 new compositions Morgan and Tommy expand
on the film’s theme of environmental crisis. Their music
fuses together numerous field recordings of Valle’s local
wildlife, habitat and natural materials with Morgan’s
guitar playing through a series of innovative electronic
production techniques. The album aims to raise
awareness about this problem and the music highlights
certain species which are facing extinction: fireflies, birds,
crickets, rivers, and the Abronias which are now on the
red list. Together Morgan and Tommy have crafted a suite
of music that celebrates the beauty and vitality of our
natural world and provides a call-to-action to save it while
we still can.
Morgan Szymanski
Born in Mexico City in 1979, Morgan Szymanski started playing the guitar at the age of six. Early studies at the National Music School (Mexico) and the Edinburgh Music School led to a scholarship to study under Carlos Bonell and Gary Ryan at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, graduating in 2004 with first class honours. During his studies he won guitar prizes at the RCM as well as being awarded scholarships from the Tillett Trust, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Leverhulme Trust, Wall Trust, FONCA and a scholarship to study at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He went on to become the first solo guitarist to be selected by the Young Classical Artist Trust and was awarded a Junior Fellowship at the RCM, where he completed his Master’s degree with distinction.
Tommy Perman
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1980, Tommy Perman is an artist, design and musician who blurs the boundaries of these three disciplines through collaboration. Perman’s work as a musician and DJ has taken him across the world, with numerous record releases under his own name and with experimental group/arts collective FOUND, alongside visual works at the Sydney Opera House and National Museum of Scotland.
Praise for ‘Music for the Moon and the Trees’:
“The musical arc bends from the quiet foliage at dusk
into the heart of the night forest, as the creatures
come out to frolic.”
A Closer Listen
“An intimate and deeply comforting record of real beauty.
.. It’s like an exclusive club night of sorts for the moon and
the trees, as they dance to their own private soundtrack –
an intimate and deeply comforting record of real beauty.”
The Skinny
“[Morgan and Tommy] clearly really understand sound
and what a huge emotional impact it can have when it’s
moulded in the right hands.”
Elizabeth Alker / Unclassified / BBC Radio 3
Photos by Lavinia Negrete