Paul Winter (right to left), with Andy Cooke, Andreas Kalima, and Dokku Lenda, collaborating on new music in Ethiopia.
Music for the Earth is 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization with the mission to explore and implement ways that music can be used to enrich the lives of human beings and awaken involvement in the preservation of biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and the natural environments of the Earth. Music for the Earth was founded in 1976 by saxophonist and composer Paul Winter, who with his music has found a means to connect people to a sense of place, promote relatedness to the larger community of life, and assist groups that support local cultural and biological diversity. His music has served environmental campaigns and causes in a range of countries, including Russia, Brazil, Israel, Lebanon, Japan, and Spain.
Music For The Earth’s activities include:
- concerts and albums to build community, celebrate the sounds of the planet, and benefit environmental causes;
- wilderness recording expeditions;
- media outreach and raising public awareness about environmental and social justice issues and groups;
- environmental and cultural education programs for young people;
- and music-making workshops and residencies.
Music for the Earth partners with educators, biologists, anthropologists, painters, film-makers, naturalists, and environmental activists to use music’s unique power to extend the impact of their work or respective medium. Music for the Earth has worked around the world using music to build bridges between cultures and nature, to support environmental causes and campaigns.
- EarthChild, which will bring the extraordinary voices of creatures from around the world to the ears and imaginations of kids, their families, and educators, to help bridge the devastating disconnect in our society between children and nature;
- Oasis, which will present a story, through music, writings and photographs, of the community of artists and change-makers that grew out of a vital period at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, expressing a vision of wholeness, of unity in diversity, celebrating the full potential of human creativity;
- Flyways, celebrating the great bird migration between Africa and Eurasia along the Great Rift Valley, using music of the cultures over which the birds fly. As a musical metaphor for the richness and interdependence of life in all its forms, the project aims to support conservation relating to the birds, affirm the music traditions found throughout the region, and encourage international collaboration to protect a shared heritage.
