In 2025, the HearAndNow Collective was invited to Alice Springs to collaborate with ornithologist and composer Hollis Taylor and composer and violinist Jon Rose. They wrote new works for string quartet and Australian songbirds specifically for the ensemble. During their stay in Australia, they researched the unique qualities of Australian songbirds and the transcriptions of these songs that Taylor herself had written. The Collective was also there to film the birds’ natural habitat—the rugged and breathtaking landscape that provides the context for the music. This journey resulted in two new string quartets titled BEAK and Arltunga.

Together with filmmaker Boris Peters, the Collective created a music video for the piece *Arltunga*. The footage from Australia was specially edited to be played live during the performance of *BEAK*. It premiered during the 2026 HearAndNow Chamber Music Festival.