Listening to Climate Change Symposium

Join us for a two-day event exploring the creative outcomes of the Yale Planetary Solutions (YPS) seed grant project Listening to Climate Change: Addressing Climate Change Through the Music of Bird Murmuration.

Through a partnership between the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM), the School of Public Health, the Department of Music, and collaborators, the interdisciplinary initiative connects environmental data with artistic expression, and local, national, and international networks of research.

Listening to Climate Change is developed in collaboration with Music Haven—an inclusive music education organization that enables young people to learn, play, and express themselves through tuition-free classical music lessons and mentoring.

Listening to Climate Change is led by:

• Judith Lichtman (Yale School of Public Health)
• Matthew Suttor (Yale Center for Collaborative Arts)
• Konrad Kaczmarek (Yale Department of Music)
• Diego Ellis Soto (University of California, Berkeley)
• Jonathan Gewirtzman (Yale School of the Environment)

All events will be held at Yale CCAM, Leeds Studio, 149 York Street, New Haven, CT. This event is free and open to everyone. Registration is not required. Participants will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis, and room capacity limits will apply.

Schedule

Friday, April 25, 2025

Concert Performance: 5:00 - 6:30 pm

The Haven Quartet will premiere compositions by New Haven public school students from Music Haven. Inspired by environmental data, bird flocking patterns, and shifting ecosystems, these dynamic musical pieces utilize specialized software developed with YPS Seed Grant support.

Composers Matthew Suttor and Konrad Kaczmarek, joined by guest cellist Zachary Mowitz (Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra), will present a work-in-progress by Nick DiBerardino (Provost and Dean, Curtis Institute of Music), developed in collaboration with researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Presentations and Panel: 6:30 - 8:00 pm

Immediately following the concert, a panel discussion will bring together leading scientists and researchers to explore the intersection of music, environmental science, and climate advocacy. The conversation will feature experts whose work bridges climate science and creative communication:

• Vivek Hari Sridhar (Assistant Professor at the University of Washington and affiliate researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)
• Diego Ellis Soto (David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow and Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley)
• Aran Mooney (Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

• Nadege Aoki (Ph.D. candidate, MIT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Workshop: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

This hands-on session explores interdisciplinary strategies for climate education and advocacy. Participants will experiment with creative tools—augmented by AI and environmental data mapping—to translate ecological complexity into emotionally resonant stories.