Music and Nature / Show 462

About

 We’re celebrating Earth Day and the power of music to connect us with nature and our communities. We’re meeting five young artists who worked with From the Top mentors to create projects that explored their interest in both music and the environment. We also enjoy their phenomenal musicianship. Our co-hosts are musicians, educators, eco artists, and sisters, Josie and Sophie Davis, who were part of the group of professionals mentoring today’s young artists.

We meet a teen who has turned scientific data and graphs into music, a composer who is inspired by conservation land in his hometown in Maine, and a violinist who worked with children to turn ideas and artwork into a real garden. A teen composer describes working with elementary school kids to create instruments out of trash and we hear from an 18-year-old violinist who reflects on the recent fires in her community of Altadena, California.

Guests

• Host: Peter Dugan
  Peter Dugan's position is sponsored by Susan and Gerald Slavet.
• Co-Host : Josie Davis
  Josie is a violinist, educator and arts administrator, interested in how the arts can be used as a form of cultural empowerment to build bridges and strengthen communities.
• Co-Host: Sophie Davis
  Sophie is a violinist, climate change artist, and the Artistic Director of Halcyon, an artist collective in Maine.

Performers & Repertoire

• Natalie-Elise Huang, 17, violin, from Arcadia, California

  Petite Suite, I. Un bateau by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Gaston Choisnel (1857-1921)
• Holly Lacey, 18, violin from South Pasadena, California
  

  Grieg, Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45, I. Allegro molto appassionato — Presto by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
• Mallika Sheshadri, 18, violin, from Altadena, California

  Poéme Op. 35 by Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
• Aadit Shrivastava, 16, composer, from Short Hills, New Jersey

  Superbloom by Aadit Shrivastava (b. 2008)
  
  Recording courtesy of Juilliard. Recorded at Juilliard Pre-College Composition Recital, Saturday, December 14, 2024, featuring:
  Emily Leng, Flute
  Eric Myung, Oboe
  Michael Sun, Clarinet
  Ezra Yang, French Horn
  William Song, Bassoon
  This chamber group was coached by Dr. Oliver Hagen.
• Benjamin Rosenthal, 16, composer/violin, from Damariscotta, Maine

  Elegy by Benjamin Rosenthal (b. 2008)

Release Date

• Monday, April 21, 2025

Release date is when this show is released to NPR stations, here on our website, and to our podcast. Shows are released on a weekly basis; please check your local NPR station listing for the actual airtime in your market. If you'd like, you can visit NPR's "Find Stations" page to look for your station.

Support Provided By

The Volgenau Foundation

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