In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we're incredibly proud to premier a new video featuring our March 2019 performance of The Sense of Wonder, written by Composer-in-Residence Kevin Siegfried from text by Rachel Carson.
A marine biologist, naturalist, and writer, Rachel Carson awakened the world to the potential destructive impact of humans on the natural world with her book, Silent Spring (1962), which launched the contemporary environmental movement. The text for this piece is drawn from her article “The Sense ofWonder,” published posthumously in 1965, which she hoped would inspire adults to share with children an instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring in nature.
Please visit the Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson and the Rachel Carson Landmark Trust to learn more about this incredible woman.
The Chorale would have performed this beautiful piece as part of the flagship Earth Day event on the National Mall this weekend. Like so many things this year, that opportunity disappeared. The cause is as important as ever, though. We partnered with the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) for our March 2019 concert, drawing attention to their efforts to reclaim this beautiful and vital waterway. Learn more about how you can support AWS and their online learning activities, and how to be notified of future volunteer opportunities.
We hope you have the chance to get outside, look up at the sky, feel the wind and rain, and marvel in that sense of wonder.