Did you know the pangolin has no vocal cords?

In June 2025, Olympias Music Foundation delivered 3 days of musical exploration, environmental awareness, songwriting, and produced a film with key partner, Manchester Museum.

On day one of our HERDS project, young people met with staff from the museum to learn all about the pangolin! They came face-to-face with the Giant Ground Pangolin in the Nature's Library, and the smaller, White-Bellied Pangolin in the Education Suite. They learned many facts about the pangolin, including that they eat 70 MILLION ants a year (between them, not each!). Shockingly, they also discovered that over 1 million pangolins are trafficked over a 10 year period, which is why they are such an important narrative to The HERDS, and the climate emergency in general.

On day two, our young people collaborated with our woodwind teachers, Jamie Stockbridge and Polly Virr, to create four pieces of music exploring themes around the pangolin, its life in the rainforest of the Congo, and the hardship the pangolin goes through. Day three, and ACTION! The cameras were rolling as our young people performed their improvised piece of music on film. This creative piece was made in response to the plight of the pangolin and in preparation for the arrival of 'The HERDS' as part of Manchester International Festival 2025.

The HERDS is a public art and climate action project that encompassed animal puppets created in various places along their 20,000 km from Africa to the Arctic. A visual dramatisation of the climate crisis and a stark warning of what may come if animals are forced to flee their natural habitats.

Since April 2025, the animals were travelling through the Congo Jungle of Central Africa, the desert of the Sahel, towns and cities across Europe, with a spectacular visit to Manchester in July where they ‘interrupted’ an orchestral performance by Manchester Camerata. They finished their journey in the Arctic in August 2025.