Read the full article: https://www.baycs.org/post/soundtracks-of-survival-music-dance-and-the-environmental-crisis
“Nowadays, art can be anything. Long gone are the times of Mozart and Van Gogh; welcome Tyler, the Creator and Banksy. Our cultural acceptance of different types of art is a good thing, but it also brings up questions about whether a piece is deserving of its audience. “Comedian,” an art piece consisting of a banana taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at auction. Does every art piece have validity in our current times? …….
Tan, who had never worked in the climate space before the concert, and Chen, who is majoring in Energy Science and Engineering, were both able to find meaning in climate art, making me hopeful for its future when experienced by a diverse audience.
The influence of climate art extends far beyond Stanford, as I learned when I arranged to meet with Fran Schulberg, executive producer for ClimateMusic. ClimateMusic is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that produces music pieces inspired by the environment. The group has been operating for a decade and has released around ten unique musical compositions about climate change to a global audience.
Schulberg says her favorites are “Icarus in Flight,” a “chamber music piece describing the human drivers of climate change,” and “Feel it All,” an “upbeat piece about solutions.”
Both pieces incorporate actual data through sonification: the science of mapping the rising frequency of CO2 levels onto pitch or discordance that the musicians can follow. “Icarus in Flight,” for example, gets more and more discordant to depict the rise in CO2. Sonification made me realize that music can reflect climate data.
Schulberg also proudly mentioned the Be Cool! campaign that ClimateMusic launched in 2024. The organization produced the song “I Wanna Be Cool” and recorded a video using participants from around the globe, which went viral. The traction from the video helped provide a school in Nigeria with solar power.
“Music has a way of engaging people, creating community, getting people inspired,” Schulberg said.
When it comes to impact, Schulberg has a plethora of stories to share.
“A couple of our composers who were not engaged in climate before became climate activists,” Schulberg said.
People have gone up to her at concerts and explained how the music has changed their lives. It even makes Schulberg think about her daughter in a new light.
“Hearing what the world sounded like when I was born, and hearing what it sounds like when my daughter was born, and hearing what my granddaughter’s world will sound like is striking,” Schulberg said.
