Isle of Wight artist Nathan Holt is bringing his critically acclaimed immersive sound installation Translating Frequencies: 639 back to All Saints’ Church, Calbourne, following an overwhelming response from audiences last year.
The free event takes place on Saturday 4th July 2026, 12pm to 6pm, as part of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Festival programme.
Sound you can feel as well as hear
The installation draws on field recordings made at the church itself and its surrounding rural environment – capturing the sounds of the land, the ancient 12th century building, and the living landscape that has shaped this corner of the Island for centuries.
The result is a deeply immersive listening experience in which sound is not only heard but physically felt, bringing together art, culture, heritage, and the natural world in one of the Island’s most distinctive spaces.
Connecting art, heritage and the natural world
The event reflects the spirit of the Biosphere Festival, celebrating the Isle of Wight’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status and the unique relationship between its communities, culture, and environment.
Translating Frequencies: 639 invites a broad audience – from art lovers and music enthusiasts to those curious about the Island’s heritage and natural soundscape – to come together and experience the Island through its own sounds.
Artist, Nathan Holt, said,
“Hearing how deeply people connected with the work last year genuinely moved me.
“In that space, sound becomes something you feel as much as hear, and that’s an extraordinary thing to experience.”
What audiences said last year
One participant said,
“Completely immersive. Deeply connecting and healing. Profound. I would call
this a depth experience – with heart.”
Another added,
“Through mind, body and spirit. My entire being resonated and felt embedded into the location.”
Part of the IW Biosphere Festival
Translating Frequencies: 639 is proudly part of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Festival programme, an annual celebration of the Island’s UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve.
The festival brings together events across nature, culture, heritage, arts, and community, and this installation sits at the heart of that vision, using sound to connect audiences with place in a way that is both intimate and profound.
A 12th-century setting woven into the work itself
All Saints’ Church, Calbourne, is a 12th-century Grade I listed building set within one of the Island’s most beautiful villages.
The church itself is woven into the installation as its acoustics, its history, and the sounds of the land around it form the raw material from which the work is made.
