Article Examines Climate Concerto as a Model for “Gentle Climate Activism”

A newly published article by pianist, scholar, and climate advocate Mine Doğantan-Dack explores the power of music to inspire environmental awareness and action, using Brian Field's Climate Concerto as a central case study.

The article, Curating Awareness and Hope: Performing Field and Finzi as Gentle Climate Activism, reflects on the world premiere of Climate Concerto with the London Concert Sinfonia in June 2025. Through an autoethnographic lens, Doğantan-Dack examines how thoughtfully curated musical experiences can serve as a form of climate advocacy—raising awareness, fostering emotional connection, and inspiring hope rather than despair.

The article explores the origins of Climate Concerto, which grew out of Field's internationally performed climate-awareness initiative, Three Passions for our Tortured Planet. In discussing the work's three movements—Fire, Glaciers, and Winds—Doğantan-Dack highlights the concerto's portrayal of environmental loss while emphasizing its ultimately hopeful message: that meaningful action remains possible.

Pairing Climate Concerto with Gerald Finzi's pastoral Eclogue, the concert sought to illuminate both what humanity stands to lose through climate change and what remains worth protecting. The article argues that music can function as a form of "gentle activism," cultivating empathy, reflection, and collective responsibility through shared artistic experience.

Doğantan-Dack writes that the goal was not merely to communicate the realities of climate change, but to create an affective community—one capable of transforming awareness into action through hope, beauty, and human connection.

The full article is available through Arts and can be read here: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/15/4/84

My sincere thanks to Mine Doğantan-Dack for her remarkable artistry, scholarship, and ongoing commitment to using music as a force for positive change.