The Big Invisible Clock
This is a Libretto I saw performed last night by Lola Perrin. I don’t normally do my own posts for Green Christian, I do the technical stuff and put up other people’s posts. I don’t normally go to out to hear music, but I met Lola when I gave a talk at for Action on Climate Change in Chipping Barnet. She was very engaging and ethusiatic, said she was a friend of Clare Redfern our magazine editor and gave me a flyer for her concert. The evening was free so I went along with my husband.
Why I am I writing this, because I’ve been eerily affected by last night.
I’ve been to many talks and protests about climate change, but this is the first time I’ve been to hear music based around climate change. Lola explains why she felt compelled to write the Libbretto, a sister in California fleeing her home because of catastrophic wildwires, a brother in Mancheser being able to smell the smoke when the peat moors were burning, and many other places she’d visited experiencing extreme weather events. She interviewed scientists and used many informaton sources in her journey towards the composition.
Lola played the grand piano, sometimes solo sometimes as to accompany words or poetry performed by Estelle Kokot. The ticking clock telling us we don’t know how long we’ve got, but after the recent IPCC report, less time than we imagined. It is political, the minority insist on ignoring the drastic effects of their money making enterprises, the ordinary people need to understand just where we are at.
“More and more and more money going into making sure Emissions soar
….
We’re up againsts the clock
And we need to be told
’til everyone knows
The musical theme turned to suggesting we need to ‘bend the curve’, the time is now.
The music stopped for an interview with lawyer Farhana Yamin, who has worked in climate change since the early nineties, for example, helping to form the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), 43 islands and low-lying coastal countries which are particularly vulnerable to global warming and represent them in climate negotiation. Farhana had a wealth of knowledge and was ably interviewed by Fergal Byrne who is currently working on Sustainability with business leaders.
After the interview a final anthem was played by Lola on the piano and the Firsby String Quartet, with some final words from Estelle
We just have to create the right habitat
And the right things happen
The music was wonderful, the evening was very provoking. It is essential for these issues to be part of the arts. Lola started an organisation called Climate Keys in 2017, where the publicity for this concert is to be found.
The concert can be performed in other venues – so get them to book it. They are also looking for a filmmaker and would like to perform the Libretto at the next UN climate talks in Poland (December)
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