Paul Barton from UK is an amazing pianist, and he decided to use his musical talent to do something special form Lam Duan, a blind elderly female elephant. He played classic piano right in the wild. Mr. Barton wouldn’t only play for Lam Duan, but he’s also playing for all the blind, injured and disabled elephants.
Untethered and free to wander and graze as they please, elephants would surround Mr Barton and his piano during each visit, fascinated by the calming sounds of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Debussy.
Lam Duan, whose name translates to “Tree With Yellow Flowers,” currently resides in Thailand, at an animal rescue facility known as Elephants World. The rescue center takes care of elephants who are old, sick, or disabled. Mr. Barton told CBS News that he was heartbroken after meeting Lam Duan for the first time in 2012. He said she is very restless most of the time.
But when he plays music for her, she stops acting so restless. Instead, she calms down and begins to sway back and forth to the melody. Lam Duan has had a busy life. Her first 20 years were spent in the logging trade.
She then spent 10 more years in the trekking industry. After that, she spent 30 years being looked after by a pair of owners. She was then moved to Elephants World.
Mr. Barton is originally from East Yorkshire. He currently resides at the shelter with Khwam, his wife. He plays music on a regular basis to all of the elephants under their care. They watch over 28 of the gentle giants.
Some of the elephants, such as bull elephants, do show signs of aggression. But Mr. Barton wants his performances to be as natural as possible in order to curb that particular behavior. His piano is right out in the mountains.
He wants the elephants to feel that they can do whatever they want. They are free to stay and listen or they can go. He told CBS News that it usually only takes a few seconds for him to determine whether a particular elephant actually likes his music or not.
He really hopes that the elephants enjoy his music as much as he does. Mr. Barton wants to raise awareness of Elephants World, so he always uploads the videos to his YouTube channel to garner interest. He says the connection he feels when the elephants are close is unexplainable.
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