Lest We Forget What Sustains Us: A Musical Natural History of Planet Earth

An estimated 8.5 billion people currently inhabit our world, sharing the planet with 8.7 million known animal species (and a far greater number yet to be discovered). Earth has existed for 4.543 billion years. Yet, according to a growing number of scientists, if climate change continues at its present rate, our once fecund and pristine planet may become uninhabitable as early as 2050.

As the ice sheets melt and more and more people find themselves refugees in a world of closed borders, this song cycle may be considered a love letter to the planet that so generously feeds,  clothes and shelters us despite the barrage of daily abuses we humans inflict upon her.

“Lest We Forget What Sustains Us” ends on a note of optimism. As the global greening that took place during Covid-19 lockdowns so powerfully illustrated, it is not too late to return our ravaged planet to Edenic clarity.

Germaine Shames, librettist

Jane Kozhevnikova, composer

View the cycle’s concert premiere: https://youtu.be/95_Q1GgPbOM?si=qxacK3mSKjw5fqqS