Multi-award-winning composer and sound artist Peter Hobbs is set to light up Whakatāne with his immersive new installation Cymatic Connections, as part of this year’s Light Up Festival.

Hobbs, who holds a master’s degree in Environmental Sound Art, creates spacious, emotive soundscapes for film and television, dance, art installations, and albums.

His work bridges the gap between electronic music and the natural world, often using sound to explore our connection to the environment.

Based in Titirangi in the Waitākere Ranges, he has performed at renowned festivals including LUMA, Splore, Takapuna Winter Lights, and the New Plymouth Festival of Lights.

“I haven’t been to Whakatāne since I was a kid, so I am really excited to be coming back.”

Cymatic Connections is the culmination of a year-long exploration into the hidden language of sound and vibrations.

At its core lies the science of cymatics – the study of visible sound waves – where specific audio frequencies pass through water to form striking geometric patterns. These rippling visuals are then projected onto trees and structures, creating a breathtaking sensory experience where sound and light pulse as one.

“The idea is that the universe is made of vibrations,” Hobbs explains.

“From the vibrations we give each other as human beings, to the way we relate to our environment around and how we sign and talk, right through to the string theory, which holds that these strings are what connect the whole universe and makes up dark matter in the universe.”

Cymatic Connections thus reveals the profound dance between vibration, human consciousness, and the natural world.

“This work is an attempt to draw those ideas together and get a sense of that and illustrate it in a more tangible and artistic way.”

The result is an installation where viewers don’t just hear the music – they see it, feel it, and become part of it.

Projected against the living canvas of the natural world, Cymatic Connections offers a profound reminder of the invisible threads that bind all life together.

Hobbs describes his musical style as organic cinematic electronic, inspired heavily by nature and the emotional responses it evokes.

He has released several albums and is working on a new one, which he plans to tour later this year.

Hobbs loves the collaborative work that goes into light festivals, which he says are great examples of community-driven artistic expression.