Category: Performances

We were honored to have A Call 2 Peace stage two benefit concerts on our behalf over the weekend in Los Angeles.  Special thanks also to our action partner, California Interfaith Power and Light, as well as the venues, St. Andrews Church and MCC in the Valley, for making these benefit events possible. 

A Call 2 Peace was founded by a small group of outstanding musicians who are committed to applying their world class talents to furthering the cause of peace and justice in the world.  The core group includes: Performer, composer, and producer Eduardo Del Signore, whose collaborations have included work with Dionne Warwick, Al Jarreau, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Trasante (Gypsy Kings), and many others; violinist Scarlet Rivera, who has worked closely with Bob Dylan (and appears in the Martin Scorsese film, Rolling Thunder Revue), and many others, including Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Keb ‘Mo; and soprano Sonia Kazarova, who is currently studying under the baton of Maestro Douglas Sumi of Los Angeles Opera, having recently returned from singing in Zaragoza, Spain with Maestra Diva Montserrat Caballe as a participant performer in her world renowned masterclass.

For the benefit shows, which took place on Friday and Saturday this past week in Los Angeles, A Call 2 Peace invited several guest artists and friends to join them on stage, including percussionist Ron Wagner, guitarist Federico (Freddy) Ramos, DJ Werd, violinist Chishuan, and guitarist Dan Ferguson. Thanks also to South African fine artist Jabu for gracing each venue with his inspiring art!

We are grateful to our friends at A Call 2 Peace and Interfaith Power and Light for their partnership and support! 

We are delighted to announce that The ClimateMusic Project has been designated as an affiliated arts organization for the upcoming Global Climate Action Summit, September 12-14 in San Francisco.  We are currently developing a multifaceted program for what will be an unforgettable evening.   Stay tuned for more detail about our event soon!

We celebrated the premiere of our newest portfolio work, Icarus in Flight,  on June 9th at a packed performance at the Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco.  This new composition, by composer Richard Festinger in collaboration with The ClimateMusic Project, tracks three human drivers of climate change from 1880 to 2080.  The award-winning Telegraph Quartet   performed the work to a standing ovation.  

Following the performance, the audience engaged with a panel  that included Dr. William Collins, Dr. Chris Luebkeman, composer Richard Festinger, Stephan Crawford, and violinist Eric Chin

The evening also included an opportunity for the audience to interact with our solutions partners, including The Global Footprint Network, Re-Volv, Interfaith Power and Light, and CoolEffect, all of which offer ways in which the public can actively engage in positive action at home and in our communities.  

Special thanks to our collaborators on the content for the evening, Arup and Kinetech Arts, as well as to our sponsors, The Zellerbach Family Foundation, Macroclimate, and The University of San Francisco’s Graduate Program in Energy Systems Management

We are honored to announce that we will be performing live on April 25th at a sold-out KQED  event featuring Bill Nye at SF JAZZ in San Francisco.   

Once the host of the popular public broadcasting show Bill Nye, the Science Guy and now CEO of the Planetary Society, he advocates the importance of science, research and discovery. This sold-out event will feature Bill in a special conversation with KQED Senior Science Editor Kat Snow.  

We will perform an excerpt from Climate, by composer Erik Ian Walker in collaboration with The ClimateMusic Project.  The band:  Erik Ian Walker, bass guitar; Michele Walther, violin; Tom Dimuzio, synth and live sampling; Scott Brazieal, keyboard

We are thrilled to announce our first live international show!  We’ll be appearing at the World Bank’s Fifth Global Understanding Risk Forum, scheduled for Mexico City,  Mexico at the stunning Palacio de Mineria, May 14-18, 2018. 

On May 17th, we will perform our original portfolio work, “Climate”, by composer Erik Ian Walker in collaboration with The ClimateMusic Project.  Erik, on keyboard, will be joined by Michele Walther on violin; Thomas Dimuzio, synthesizer and live sampling; Bill Noertker on bass guitar; and Scott Brazieal on keyboard.  Dr. William Collins, The ClimateMusic Project’s chief science advisor, will be on hand to introduce our work and engage with the audience post concert. 

Organized under the auspices of the World Bank Group,  Understanding Risk (UR) is an open and global community of over 6,500 experts and practitioners interested and active in disaster risk identification. UR community members share knowledge and experience, collaborate, and discuss innovation and best practice in risk assessment and risk communication. The community convenes every two years at UR Forums – five-day events that highlight best practices, facilitate partnerships and showcase the latest technical know-how in disaster risk identification.

For more information about the conference, please click on the image:

We are pleased to announce that beginning this month, we will be actively working with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Technology and Applied Composition Program in a classroom setting to explore the range of the possible in making music from climate data.  Over the past few months we have been prepping data and strategies for interacting with the class, and we will kick-off our engagement with students at a first session later this month.  The class will culminate with a public concert of student work at the Conservatory on April 15th.  More detail to follow! 

We are currently performing “Climate”, a 30-minute original composition by Erik Ian Walker in collaboration with The ClimateMusic Project. 

Climate reflects five hundred years of the climate’s past, present, and (possible) futures.

In creating this piece, we used three different climate variables, specifically:  atmospheric CO2, near surface temperature, earth energy balance. We also used ocean pH, which is affected by the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  

The data sets for each of these variables are from simulations from the Community Earth System Model, an open model that has been used extensively in national and international assessments of climate change.    

The model simulates how the atmosphere, land, ocean, and sea ice change in response to changes to the environment, in particular both the natural and manmade sources and sinks of greenhouse gases.  In Climate,  you will be able to hear the influence of natural sources;  for example, in 1883 when the eruption of Krakatoa results in temporary cooling period.  

Climate opens by setting Earth in its context in our universe, galaxy, and solar system, then we begin the music expressing the long, stable climate humanity has enjoyed before the introduction of fossil fuels.

The unique aspect of this performance begins at the year 1800 A.D. , representing the approximate start of the industrial era.  At this point, each of the four variables influences the composition in a specific way.

1.     Atmospheric CO2 is represented by music tempo

2.     Near surface temperature by pitch

3.     Earth energy balance by distortion and ring modulation

4.     Ocean pH as compositional form

During live performances, a set of visual data animations tracks the trajectories of these variables over time.   Each minute of the composition represents 25 years.

The composition and graphs express climate changes up to the year 2005.  At this point, the composition and the graphs provide two possible scenarios projecting to the year 2300 AD:

1. The first scenario represents business as usual, in which we continue to burn fossil fuels without regard for their impact, resulting in an approximate increase of 8 degrees C.  This is represented by the bright red lines on the graphs (below); and

2. A second scenario in which there is an ambitious effort to reduce our emissions and soften the impacts of climate change, resulting in an approximate increase of 2 degrees C. This is represented by the bright blue lines on the graphs (below) .