The Beauty of the Earth: past and future!

Hello world! It's been just over a week since Kyle and I played our program For The Beauty of the Earth at Custer Institute and Observatory in Southold, NY. We played music by Roberto Sierra, Laura Kaminsky, Margaret Bonds, William Grant Still, and Alberto Ginastera. We tried out a new activity during the concert, giving audience members an index card and pen so that they could share with us whatever came up for them as they listened. We wanted each person to make their own personally relevant connections to the music, because there is no right or wrong response and we didn’t want to limit their imaginations. Everybody experiences music differently, and we just wanted the audience to lean into whatever it was they were experiencing. We got some wonderful imagery back: Creation. The chase. Thunderstorm with lightning and rain. A leaf on a babbling brook. Candles fighting in the wind to stay lit. Baby birds’ first flight. A crab fighting the surf. Buffalo on the plains. A beautiful sunrise, then the busyness of the day, then exhaustion at the end of the day. All I can say to all of that is… awesome!

We first learned the music for this program 5 years ago, when The Dream Unfinished presented its season Deep River, focusing on climate justice. Bringing it back this week felt fitting: between the beauty of the aurora borealis and the devastation of hurricanes Helene and Milton, it was a moment ripe for reflection and awe at both the beauty of the earth and the darker, but unavoidable undercurrent of climate anxiety represented in Laura Kaminsky’s powerful duo, undercurrent.

No worries if you missed the show in Southold, we’ll be repeating the program on October 26th at 5pm at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church (157 Montague Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201) and again November 10th at 3pm at the First United Methodist Church in Hillsdale, New York. Come join us, and we can’t wait to hear about what you imagine as you listen! If you can't join us and wish we would bring this program closer to you, let us know that too... maybe there's a venue near you that would be interested in hosting!