Mobilizing Symphony

CHALLENGE: World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance that raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water and promotes action to tackle the global water crisis. In keeping with our arts-based enquiry approach, RESEAU sought a unique tactic to generating discussion on the need for innovation in our response to climate change and its impact on water.

SOLUTION: We partnered with renowned conductor Aram Khacheh of the Brescia, Italy-based symphony Bazzini Consort to create a series of short video vignettes featuring musicians playing excerpts from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The excerpts are aligned with larger messages about climate, water and community health, as well as the importance of thinking outside the box for innovative approaches to ameliorating climate change and its impact on water.

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KEY CONSIDERATIONS: Vivaldi’s masterpiece challenged musicians to create the sounds and sensibilities of nature using unconventional, innovative approaches. The piece also echoes the history of climate upheaval from the early 17th century into the early 18th century, which heavily influenced revolts and uprisings. Vivaldi gave meaning and a narrative to his music, while using mood and new playing techniques to convey things like the buzzing of insects and barking dogs, which was very radical for his time. The videos draw several parallels between this piece in terms of innovation and telling a human tale about climate, and the challenges we face today.