May 6, 2025 by South Shore Conservatory
South Shore Conservatory (SSC) String Department Chair Christine Delphine Hedden presents “Songs for the Earth,” a benefit concert to inspire environmental awareness and action through music on Sunday, June 1, 2:30 pm in SSC’s Cox Hall at One Conservatory Drive in Hingham.
The event, which benefits Mass Audubon’s educational programs, includes the world premiere of a newly-composed piece commissioned by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music’s Composing Earth initiative which focuses on environmental awareness and activism for artists.
“Every person has power to contribute to the climate crisis because the full picture is much bigger than climate,” says Hedden. “Humanity faces a suite of environmental crises including climate change, biodiversity loss, land conservation, freshwater loss, air pollution, and more. These environmental crises are closely intertwined with the capacity to meet the basic needs of humanity and social justice. The greatest lesson from my year of study was that the multi-faceted dimensions of the environmental crises call for a diverse response from people of all talents, including the arts.”
Hedden’s work is written for folk-singer Lindsay Straw, who will be accompanied by instrumentalists Kate Knudsvig (violin/fiddle), Kat Wallace (violin/fiddle), Corley Friesen-Johnson (viola), Ariel Friedman (cello), and Annick Odom (bass). The entire “Songs for the Earth” program draws from their combined diverse repertoire of Irish traditional, Americana, singer-songwriter, and newly-composed classical music, that all speak to various angles of environmental awareness and action, as well as social justice.
The afternoon starts at 2:30 pm with educational, family-friendly activities including a nature-themed craft, a reading of “The Tide is Rising, So Are We!” by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, and a presentation about sustainability and chocolate by Dr. Lori Shapiro of Suenõs Cacao, followed by the concert at 4 pm.
After the concert, there will be a market of local music by the artists, chocolate by Suenõs Cacao, and relevant books from Book Love for sale in the lobby.
“Songs for the Earth” is funded by the Kathy Czerny Innovation Fund (KCIF)which was established in honor of former South Shore Conservatory President, Kathy O. Czerny. KCIF awards grants to further South Shore Conservatory’s mission and its commitment to the communities it serves, providing financial support to faculty and staff in the creation and implementation of innovative and forward-thinking programming.
Tickets to South Shore Conservatory’s “Songs for the Earth” are $25/person and may be purchased at https://support.sscmusic.org/event/songs-for-the-earth/e684091. Proceeds benefit Mass Audubon. Learn more about South Shore Conservatory at sscmusic.org or find South Shore Conservatory on Facebook or Instagram.