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Forests of Song:
Forests of Song:

Building Environmental Stewardship
Building Environmental Stewardship

through Choral Singing
through Choral Singing

Mark Pett
Mark Pettyy

University of Washingtony of Washington
Universit
Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
(Used with permission of the author)
(Used with permission of the author)

A choir is a lot like a forest. In the woods, trees work to- source of inspiration for classroom music activities. She be-
gether to build beauty and give breath to the greater world. lieved and taught that music existed beyond just intentional
They create sanctuaries for animals and provide solace for human creation and appeared all around in nature. She
visitors who pass beneath their branches. Through their in- felt that students could hone their listening skills by spend-
terconnected root systems, they share nutrients and send ing time outside exploring the music of animals and the
strength to struggling trees. Likewise, choirs off er refuge to woods. 1
listeners and singers and add beauty to the world around During the ecological revolution of the 1970s, Rachel
them. Creating music in an ensemble strengthens and Carson called for a return to a childlike awe for the out-
nourishes each singer along with the entire choir. Our in- doors, getting our hands dirty in the soil and reinvigorating
terconnected choral communities are also healing resources those natural connections. She felt that children in nature
for many. can develop “a sense of wonder so indestructible that it
It is no surprise that the natural world carries so many would last throughout life as an unfailing antidote against
parallels to the musical one. Beethoven famously sought the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile
solace among the birds in the countryside, Grieg in his na- preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation

tive mountains, and Vaughan Williams out at sea. With from the sources of our strength.” This sense of wonder
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the earth now at a tipping point for ecological action and translates well to music making and relates to how we expe-
awareness, can our relationship with nature as singers make rience beauty in sound.
a diff erence? As both a choir conductor and wilderness in- Modern ecomusicologists recognize the powerful ties
structor, I believe that it can. In many ways, caring for the between music and the natural world. Importantly, these
earth can make us better singers, and singing can make us connections can help us establish a sense of place and root
better stewards of the environment. us in our own landscapes and culture, a critical component
This is not particularly a new idea. In the 1920s, innova- of stewardship. Environmental ethics specialist Lisa Sideris
tive educator Satis Coleman presented her Creative Music explains that “people will often defend places they know

method, which, among other things, offered nature as a and love, but first they must become attached. They must

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