World Premiere: Orchidées Translates Orchid DNA into Music
The Huntington debuts cello composition linking science, music, and conservation during its Orchid Show, Oct. 17–19, 2025
Posted on Tue., Sept. 9, 2025
Still taken from the time-lapse of Orchidées featuring Chysis limminghei. The Huntington, San Marino, California.
Still taken from the time-lapse of Orchidées featuring Stanhopea impressa. The Huntington, San Marino, California.
Still taken from the time-lapse of Orchidées featuring Angraecum sesquipedale. The Huntington, San Marino, California.
Still taken from the time-lapse of Orchidées featuring Coryanthes alborosea. The Huntington, San Marino, California.
Brandon Tam with the blooming Cymbidium pauwelsiii ‘Kessander’ orchid in the Chinese Garden. Photo by Linnea Stephan. The Huntington San Marino, California.
Still taken from the time-lapse of Orchidées featuring Angraecum sesquipedale. The Huntington, San Marino, California.
A portion of the orchid collection located in the Robert Weltz Greenhouse.
Key Takeaways
Orchidées is an ambitious artistic work that interprets the DNA of orchids through music. More than a decade in the making, the five movements of the composition are paired with time-lapse footage of orchids cultivated at The Huntington.
With more than 10,000 orchid plants, 1,600 unique species, and 3,600 varieties, The Huntington maintains one of the largest and most diverse orchid collections in the United States. The collection began with Arabella Huntington in the early 20th century. Its most iconic species, Cymbidium lowianum ‘Huntington’, acquired in 1910, remains in bloom today as the oldest orchid in California.
Orchidées premieres Oct. 18, 2025, during The Huntington’s ninth annual Orchid Show (Oct. 17–19), which features curated displays, competitions, and a plant sale from international exhibitors and vendors.
The Huntington will host the world premiere of Orchidées, a concert-length work for cello, accompanied by video, that translates orchid DNA into music. The performance takes place Oct. 18, 2025, in Rothenberg Hall as part of The Huntington’s ninth annual Orchid Show, Oct. 17–19, 2025.
Conceived by composer Nick Roth in collaboration with botanist Barbara Gravendeel and her team at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands, Orchidées makes musical structures from genetic sequences. To date, it is the most ambitious project to render the DNA of a living species as music.
The solo for cello encompasses five movements, each representing one of the orchid subfamilies—Apostasioideae, Cypripedioideae, Epidendroideae, Orchidoideae, and Vanilloideae. On stage, each movement will be paired with time-lapse visuals of the flowers that inspired the music, bringing science to life in real time.
The premiere will be performed by acclaimed cellist Kate Ellis, artistic director of Ireland’s Crash Ensemble, known for her contemporary and experimental music collaborations.
“At The Huntington, we strive to spark connections between art, science, and the natural world,” said Nicole Cavender, the Telleen/Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens. “Orchidées demonstrates how deeply these connections can resonate—showing that orchids are not only extraordinary plants but also powerful messengers for the importance of biodiversity and conservation.”
Orchids at The Huntington
The Huntington is home to one of the nation’s largest and most diverse orchid collections, comprising more than 10,000 plants, 1,600 unique species, and 3,600 varieties. Although the entire collection is not on view, orchids in bloom are rotated weekly into public spaces such as The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science and the Desert and Chinese gardens. The rest remain in conservation and research greenhouses.
During the performance, the audience will see time-lapse video of orchids cultivated at The Huntington. The footage, filmed by Brandon Tam, associate curator of orchids, and Andrew Sanchez of the Botanical Gardens staff, reveals the plants’ transformations from bud to bloom—natural processes rarely visible to the human eye.
“Every orchid has its own story,” said Tam. “With more than 10,000 plants in our care, we are always discovering new ways these flowers adapt, thrive, and surprise us. This project lets audiences experience orchids not just as plants but as living works of art.”
The Huntington’s history with orchids stretches back more than a century to Arabella Huntington’s interest in them. The collection grew in number and quality during the tenure of James P. Folsom, director emeritus of the Botanical Gardens. The Huntington’s orchid collection has earned more than 100 awards from the American Orchid Society, including five First Class Certificates and three Certificates of Cultural Excellence.
Conservation and Research Initiatives
The Huntington advances global plant conservation efforts through its living collection, in which each plant is cataloged with a unique number—like a call number in a library—allowing staff to monitor and care for it.
The orchid family is the largest group of flowering plants on Earth, with species that have evolved and adapted to thrive on every continent except Antarctica. Yet habitat loss—through development, environmental disruption, or poaching—remains the leading cause of extinction among the species.
“Conservation and education are at the heart of our work,” said Sean Lahmeyer, associate director of botanical collections, conservation, and research. “By propagating endangered orchids and sharing them with other institutions, we help safeguard species that might otherwise be lost. Orchidées extends that mission, inviting the public to see how science and creativity can work together to protect the natural world.”
“One way we can save these plants is through the ex-situ conservation of endangered species at botanical gardens and by sharing them through propagation with other institutions,” Tam said. “The orchid you see in your local grocery store is just one of thousands of hybrids that exist. The wild species behind these hybrids serve as the foundation and building blocks for the orchids we know, purchase, and love today.” Many plants featured in Orchidées will be unfamiliar to attendees, as they are rarely seen by orchid enthusiasts.
This concert is part of a larger effort at The Huntington to highlight plant conservation through creative programming. Orchidées invites casual visitors, dedicated botanists, and orchid collectors to connect with orchids through science, music, and community.
Nick Roth is a saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. His work explores the ways in which people can “come to know” the world through music, which has led to collaborations with a wide array of international performers, composers, choreographers, visual artists, poets, theater and film directors, and ensembles. He has served as an artist-in-residence at the European Space Agency, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, Casa da Arquitectura in Porto, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Learn more.
About the cellist Kate Ellis
Kate Ellis is dedicated to the performance and exploration of all things new in music, with an emphasis on collaboration. She is the artistic director of Ireland’s Crash Ensemble and a cellist with Martin Hayes’ Common Ground Ensemble. She also toured with Bono as part of his Stories of Surrender solo stage show from 2022 to 2023. Learn more.
The Huntington, a world-renowned cultural and educational institution, provides transformative experiences for a community of the curious. Founded in 1919 by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington, it supports research and promotes public engagement through its expansive library, art, and botanical collections. By cultivating dynamic scholarship, creating innovative programs for students and lifelong learners, and sharing its extraordinary resources, The Huntington invites all on a journey of discovery, insight, and connection. Only 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles, The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California. Learn more at huntington.org.
