The well-documented climate crisis often looms over our daily lives. As an artist, I often felt frustrated by not possessing tangible means to enact change to help. This research is, therefore, a base for further investigations and performances geared toward percussion-based environmentalism.
By examining four distinct pieces selected for their connection, or their possibility to connect to broad or specific environmental issues, and altering variables of performance location, instrumentation, personnel, and the addition of contextual material, this exposition demonstrates one path of many for environmental advocation in music. By focusing on decisions affecting sound creation and including context or subtext within each piece, this exposition gives the reasoning behind the decisions made in each piece’s performance based on modern musical activism and theories of promoting positive behaviors.
This research also examines modern musical activism in popular music and the emerging contemporary genre of ecoacoustics. The conclusions of this exposition present the benefits of the flexibility and creativity in this method and the importance of audience engagement while addressing the drawbacks of this method in the challenge of behaving sustainably as a modern artist. Lastly, this research highlights the possibility of community interaction to create small-scale environmental change that is also a creative outlet for the emotional impact climate change can have on individuals.
The methods used during this research include performance analysis, score analysis, archival analysis, and daily practice routine adjustment. By applying a study of modern environmental music activism to my practice and performance routine, I began to develop a process of creating my own programs and performances. The end goal is to engrain local environments into the performance and have more excellent connectivity to audiences than an explanation only within the program notes, as well as my reasoning for doing so.
I do feel it is important to note that the goal of this research is not to deduce what is the most effective form of artistic expression for environmentalism, or a survey of how environmental artists compose pieces for instruments: this is entirely subjective, and while I do explore the compositional processes of specific works, my aspirations as a performing artist are not focused on composition.
For the main focus of my research, I would like to answer:
How can percussion be used as a performance tool to promote environmental awareness with performances of traditional and ecoacoustic repertoire?
Some supporting questions I would like to answer along the way include:
- How can the instrument/performer relationship be included in promoting sustainability?
- What other musical methods have been used for environmental activism?
- In what way could found object music play a role in demonstrating sustainability to an audience?
