Composing the Climate
Composing the Climate is an ongoing project seeking to commission and present chamber music that engages with the climate crisis. You can hear me talk a bit about this with host Peter Medlin here: https://www.northernpublicradio.org/wnij-news/2024-10-18/composing-the-climate-teaching-music-teachers-lounge-podcast
Past composers include Sam Sharp and Shi-An Costello. Their works were premiered in Fall 2023 at Constellation, with myself on piano, Dana DeBofsky, viola, and Missing Piece. Preparation for this project involved hours of composer interviews, a paper that talked about how these two composers enfolded their conception of climate change into their music, and a reflection on performance practices and musicking in light of a changing climate. It was a wild ride, including a long working camping and hiking trip with composer Sam Sharp, where we mourned the climate, explored South Dakota, and jammed on accordion and violin in beautiful spaces.
In Spring of 2024, I took a tangential path and presented solo works for piano that spoke overtly or subtly to this same theme. One performance included a version of my own graphically notated composition on climate change and an exploration of the various places I have lived. Another included music from prior eras that I find a source inspiration for considering ideas of transformation and adaptation.
In Summer/Fall of 2024 composers Scott Rubin, Alissa Voth and Ben Zucker wrote new piano trios exploring themes of climate change through lenses of society, history and emotional processing. These new works were premiered on January 12, 2025, in collaboration with Missing Piece at Elastic Arts. A companion show took place on April 27, 2025 at Epiphany Center for the Arts. This show also includes new films by Zack Sievers.
Please reach out if you are interested in collaborating on this project: always curious to hear from composers, chamber musicians, and venues.
This project has its roots in my doctoral project (link to the thesis paper below).
