‘Earth Emotions’ combines a deeply moving program of music with spoken word to reveal a path from disconnection to connection with nature, instilling hope for a better future. The performance features incredible compositions performed by the Bowerbird Collective, with Simone Slattery on violin, Anthony Albrecht on cello and narration by environmental philosopher, Prof. Glenn Albrecht, making a return to his home state of WA.

Over the past two decades, Prof. Albrecht has introduced many new words for our new world, providing us with the opportunity to name our Earth Emotions, both positive and negative, and empowering us with the vision of a return to harmony with nature.

This performance guides the listener from negative Earth Emotions, such as ‘solastalgia’, to the positive, ‘soliphilia’, and ultimately into a future of reconnection with nature that can be collectively imagined into existence, the ‘Symbiocene’.

The program begins with the extraordinary "Annunciation" Sonata for violin by Biber from 1674, followed by sensational duos for violin and cello by Montgomery and Vasks. This is new music that goes straight to the heart. The program closes with Bach's timeless Aria from the Goldberg Variations, followed by the hauntingly beautiful Les Voix Humaines, “The Voice of Humanity” by Marin Marais.

‘Earth Emotions’ is a vital philosophical reflection and a thrilling musical exploration of our place in the web of life.

Duration: 60 minutes without interval

Concert program:

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber – Sonata No. 1 for violin, “The Annunciation”, c.1674
Jessie Montgomery – Duo for violin and cello, Mvts. II & III, 2015
Pēteris Vasks – Castillo Interior, 2013
Johann Sebastian Bach – Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria, 1741
Marin Marias – Les Voix Humaines, “The Voice of Humanity”, 1701

About the performers:

The Bowerbird Collective makes art for nature. Their work has received international acclaim, and their ARIA-nominated albums of threatened bird, frog and mammal calls, ‘Songs of Disappearance’, reached the top of the ARIA Album Charts ahead of Taylor Swift, Adele, ABBA and Ed Sheeran. They have appeared at WOMADelaide, the Woodford Folk Festival, the Canberra International Music Festival, and at Climate Week in NYC. Violinist Simone Slattery is a Churchill Fellow, received a PhD in Music Performance from the University of Adelaide and performs regularly with Australia’s finest ensembles. Cellist Anthony Albrecht was Australia’s first graduate of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program and enjoys an international performance career. He holds an MBA and a PhD in Conservation Biology. For more information visit
www.bowerbirdcollective.org

Professor Glenn A. Albrecht is an internationally renowned environmental philosopher. Via numerous publications and public talks over the last two decades, Dr Albrecht has developed the theme of the psychoterratic - negative and positive emotional states connected to the state of the Earth. New concepts developed by him are now becoming well established in the international scholarly literature, new research theses and as inspiration for many creative people in the arts. Glenn has appeared at TED talks, conferences and nature forums throughout the world. His first book, Earth Emotions, was published with Cornell University Press in 2019, followed by best-selling French and Spanish editions in 2020. A West Australian native, Glenn is an Honorary Associate in the School of Geo-sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He retired as Professor of Sustainability, Murdoch University, in mid-2014. He continues to work as an environmental philosopher from his home in the Blue Mountains, NSW.

Contact the host of Earth Emotions | A concert for nature | Albany