Big Sing musical event in Minneapolis celebrates Earth Day

Can music be ideological, or even political? Can it do more than entertain or excite us? Can it carry specific moral or social messages?

These questions have been hotly debated over the past century, in particular, and at least one great composer, Igor Stravinsky, flatly rejected the notion that music is able to comment explicitly on the world around it. Music, he wrote, is "essentially powerless to express anything at all," except "itself."

That is a point of view that the Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light organization (MNIPL) would politely disagree with.

Founded in 2004 to promote collaboration on ecological initiatives among Minnesota-based faith communities, MNIPL's latest project aims to celebrate Earth Day 2018 (Saturday, April 21), and has music at its center.

The main event begins at 2 p.m. in St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis, and includes a Big Sing led by John Bell, a renowned hymn composer and member of the Iona faith community in Scotland.

For Claire Curran, communications manager at MNIPL, the arts are more than an optional extra in the many projects about climate change and the environment initiated by the organization.

"We think it's really important to give people an experience of the kind of world that we're working for," Curran says. "We see the arts as a really important and effective way of doing that."

Part of the reason why the arts — and music, in particular — have a central part to play in MNIPL activities is their ability to dissolve ideological barriers between people, Curran adds. That, she argues, is a crucial benefit, given the divisive times we live in.

"What we've found is that especially in this political moment art is something almost everyone can relate to, it's a place to build common ground and purpose," she says.

"We don't start our events by talking just about the facts of climate change — but about what you care about, what you love, what you want to protect. And oftentimes we do that through the arts, and it's actually a lot easier to enter into conversation and action around climate justice once we've already created that foundation together."

So songs that, as Curran says, "look at our call to care for creation and to care for our neighbors" will be part of Bell's Big Sing on Saturday.

Bell believes that songs and hymns that specifically address the need to protect the Earth's resources are a much-needed addition to contemporary religious worship.

"In the Christian church, for example, look at what we've been singing about traditionally," Bell says. "Plenty about the beauty of the world, but nothing about God's mandate to conserve it.

"Today, people of diverse faiths are joining together to care for the Earth and call for justice. What we sing shapes what we believe, and it's important that people of all faiths feel committed to ecology."

Significantly, Saturday's Big Sing event for Earth Day also will include some of the youngest members of the Minnesota arts community.

Isaiah Bischoff, 15 — whose documentary about a summer-eco-camp, All in the Circle, premiered at last year's Twin Cities Film Fest — will film Saturday's Big Sing event.

"When Claire pitched the video idea to me," Bischoff says, "I agreed because I thought it would be a fun video to make, and I really believe in the message centered around community engagement and protecting the environment."

The even younger Priest Jones, 11, a drummer and hip-hop artist from Minneapolis, also will be participating. So, too, will teen and young adult poets Lulu Priede and Pierre Fulford, and the Twin Cities-based Tiyumba African Drum and Dance Company.

Curran says the Big Sing's emphasis on young artists is no coincidence.

"Young people, in particular, have a really important voice to bring to the conversation on climate crisis; they are awake to the reality they face, and it's their future," she says.

"It's very important to engage brilliant, talented people like Isaiah and Priest to share their gifts. And we find that when young people share their gifts, older generations are really excited to join them and to take action."

Above all, Curran emphasizes that the Big Sing is open to anyone who wants to join in.

"The Reverend Bell is not just putting on a show; he's inviting people to be a part of something," she says. "He thinks that everyone can be a part of making music; you don't have to be an opera singer. You can be someone who only sings in the shower and be part of this transformative experience — a day that we all can agree is a sacred day to honor and heal our planet."