North Park’s University Orchestra making an impact on our environment. It is the first carbon-neutral and net-zero university orchestra in the US, balancing and reducing 82 tons of carbon emissions this year in collaboration with the United Nations Carbon Offset Platform.
The orchestra, conducted by Professor Tom Zelle, recently performed at the American Geophysical Union Conference in Chicago. They performed “In Nomine Terra Calens: In the Name of a Warming Earth”, a piece that demonstrates the earth’s rise in temperature through pitch. The orchestra also met and worked with Emmy award-winning composer, Jonathan Beard on a piece he wrote addressing climate change and the need for action called, “Rising Tide.”
In addition, Zelle has been working with composer and scientist Lucy Jones on the Tempo Project which brings together climate scientists and engineers, social scientists, and musicians to explore the ways in which music can be used to change the emotional climate about climate change.