The musician who turned a garden into an orchestra

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British musician and composer Helen Anahita Wilson has long been drawn to the hidden musical possibilities of the world around her. From an early age, she was fascinated by sound, not only from conventional instruments but from everyday objects – turning books, bowls of water, and reclaimed materials into tools for music‑making. Classically trained as a pianist, Helen built a career exploring experimental and minimalist music, influenced by composers like Steve Reich as well as by rhythmic traditions from South Asia. But when Helen was in her mid‑30s preparing to travel to India for her PhD, her life was abruptly derailed by a diagnosis of breast cancer. Plans were cancelled overnight as she went into intensive treatment, coinciding with the start of the Covid pandemic. During long, isolating periods in hospital, music became both a refuge and a way of navigating profound uncertainty. And as Helen’s body and hearing changed, she began listening differently. She returned to the music of her childhood for comfort, but also noticed new rhythms all around her – in chemotherapy machines, treatment schedules, and the strings of numbers printed on labels. She turned that medical data into sound, sketching rhythmic patterns and compositions during long hospital sessions. What started as a private coping strategy soon evolved into a way of communicating her experience without words. Helen became interested in exploring the links between medicine, science, and sound, especially in connection to her own recovery. Once she discovered that many chemotherapy drugs are derived from plants, she travelled to London’s Chelsea Physic Garden, and in the oncology section she recorded the bioelectrical activity of medicinal plants. She translated those readings into music, treating the garden like an orchestra, with each plant playing a distinct role or specific instrument. A periwinkle became a harp, the bark of a yew tree became a viola. She called the composition, Linea Naturalis. Helen’s work has since been exhibited at the London Art Fair. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Helen Anahita Wilson is pictured with long brown hair, wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, glasses and headphones. She’s sitting on a patch of green grass scattered with small brown leaves, looking down at a laptop in front of her. She is live mixing plant-generated audio and playing two midi controller keyboards and a tanpura, a long-necked four-stringed instrument originating from South Asia. Credit: James Joyce)