Joseph Holt, the artistic director of Choral Artists of Sarasota recently announced that the group has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for its Listen to the Earth Project. This ecological initiative commemorates Earth Day’s 50th anniversary with a world premiere concert, film screenings, panel discussions, and a community-wide partnership to promote regional environmental engagement, April 17-19, at various venues in Sarasota. Jane Alexander, a Tony Award-winner, two-time Emmy Award winner and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts, is the featured speaker. Other highlights include a panel discussion led by Dr. Terry Root of Stanford, the noted environmentalist who shared a Nobel Prize with Albert Gore for her contributions to “An Inconvenient Truth.” The initiative’s capstone is the world-premiere performance of James Grant’s symphonic cantata, “Listen to the Earth,” on April 19 at the Sarasota Opera House. The Kickstarter campaign started on February 3, and will run for 60 days. The Kickstarter campaign will enable the group to raise $12,500 to be used toward supporting the instrumental ensemble that will accompany the world-premiere concert of Grant’s cantata. It will also help to fund the creation of a multimedia presentation that will be part of the concert. According to Holt, the entire Listen to the Earth Project will cost the group $85,000. 

View the Kickstarter campaign here.

For more information about this initiative and to inquire about partnership opportunities