Music of Reality Presents Floods & Tears: The Venice Problem

On Friday, March 9, 2018, Music of Reality presents an interdisciplinary concert inspired by the research of Paola Rizzoli, Professor of Physical Oceanography at MIT. A native Venetian, Paola has been studying the “Venice Problem” of floods, rising seas, and climate change for her entire career, and will explore the topic in a series of lectures woven throughout the concert.

Lectures will be interspersed by musical performances drawn from the Venetian past and the high point of the Renaissance, together with contemporary works that provide perspectives on climate change, the vulnerability of sea-level cities, the power of humans over the sea and our climate, and the complex psychology of safeguarding the environment in the modern era.

Music by Venetian composers, Tigran Hamasyan, and including the premiere of a newly commissioned work for the occasion by David Ibbett. Featuring guest artists vocalist Camila Parias and theorbist Nathaniel Cox.

This concert will be the first in a series of carbon-neutral events presented by Music of Reality, and will include a video presentation from climate psychologist Per Espen Stoknes.

Following the event, there will be an informal Q/A and gathering at the Muddy Charles Pub (Walker Memorial, Building 50, at 142 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA).