This ecological initiative commemorates Earth Day’s 50th anniversary with a world premiere concert, film screenings, panel discussions, and a community-wide partnership to promote regional environmental engagement.

(Sarasota,
FL) Joseph Holt, the artistic director of Choral Artists of Sarasota recently announced
that the group has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for its Listen
to the Earth Project. This ecological initiative commemorates Earth Day’s 50th
anniversary with a world premiere concert, film screenings, panel discussions,
and a community-wide partnership to promote regional environmental engagement,
April 17-19, at various venues in Sarasota. Jane Alexander, a Tony
Award-winner, two-time Emmy Award winner and former director of the National
Endowment for the Arts, is the featured speaker. Other highlights include a
panel discussion led by Dr. Terry Root of Stanford, the noted environmentalist
who shared a Nobel Prize with Albert Gore for her contributions to “An
Inconvenient Truth.” The initiative’s capstone is the world-premiere
performance of James Grant’s symphonic cantata, “Listen to the Earth,” on April
19 at the Sarasota Opera House. The Kickstarter campaign started on February
3, and will run for 60 days, at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/listentotheearth/listen-to-the-earth.

Holt explains that the Kickstarter campaign will enable the group
to raise $12,500 to be used toward supporting the instrumental ensemble that
will accompany the world-premiere concert of Grant’s cantata. It will also help
to fund the creation of a multimedia presentation that will be part of the
concert. According to Holt, the entire Listen to the Earth Project will cost
the group $85,000.

In the short video the group created for the Kickstarter
initiative, Holt states that it might seem unusual that a chorus is stepping
out of its usual operating zone to focus on environmental conservation. 

“Choral Artists of Sarasota is honored to be a leading partner of
the community-wide efforts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in
2020,” says Holt. “Front and center is our planet, Earth, and our unique
existence within the solar system. We do this through the power of music and
Jim Grant’s cantata, ‘Listen to the Earth’ extols us to become better stewards
of our unique home. Indeed, the last words of the cantata are very poignant and
very haunting for our time. ‘I see my home. She’s the only home I’ve got.
There’s nowhere else to go.’”

Holt
adds that the multimedia premiere of Grant’s uplifting cantata will incorporate
images and video of the Apollo 11 lift-off and the astronauts’ view of Earth
from space. Additional pieces will sing of humanity’s bonds to the sun, moon
and stars. The concert will conclude in a wordless meditation looking to the
future. Featured artists include the Choral Artists singers, Sarasota Young
Voices, baritone soloist Marcus DeLoach, and a professional orchestral
ensemble, all under Holt’s direction.

 “Music is the strongest tool
we have to offer in service of a cause greater than ourselves,” says Holt. “We
are proud to raise our voices to share our awe and reverence for Planet Earth
and encourage each individual to do what their part to care for our home.” 

The
Smithsonian Conservation Commons of the Smithsonian Institution designated
Choral Artists’ project as an artistic component of its Earth Optimism Summit
in Washington, DC, this April. For more information about this initiative and
to inquire about partnership opportunities, visit www.ChoralArtistsSarasota.org
or contact Susan Burke at 941-387-6046.

About
the Choral Artists of Sarasota

The
Choral Artists of Sarasota, entering its 41st season, features 32 of the
region’s most notable professional singers and eight apprentice singers. The
group celebrates the rich, artistic expressiveness of choral music through
innovative repertoire, inspired performances and stimulating educational outreach.
Under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph Holt, Choral Artists of Sarasota
performs a repertoire spanning four centuries, and includes symphonic choral
works, intimate madrigals, folk songs, close-harmony jazz, and Broadway show
music. The ensemble also specializes in premiere performances of lesser-known
choral works—particularly music by living American composers. Choral Artists of
Sarasota has performed premieres by René Clausen, Dick Hyman, Robert Levin,
Gwyneth Walker and James Grant. As part of the organization’s educational
outreach, eight young singers from area schools, colleges and universities,
ages 16 to 22, are invited to join the group each year. For more
information, visit www.ChoralArtistsSarasota.org.

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