Brian Eno and Donna Grantis: Arts’ Role in the Climate Crisis
Virtual conversation in partnership with EarthPercent
Fri, Jan 27, 12-1 pm CDT
Part of the Climate Solutions Series
Moderated by Jon Pareles (The New York Times)
British musician, producer, and artist Brian Eno is a fierce advocate for our collective future in the midst of climate change.
Eno recently shared with Pitchfork, “I’m more and more convinced that our only hope of saving our planet is if we begin to have different feelings about it: perhaps if we became re-enchanted by the amazing improbability of life; perhaps if we suffered regret and even shame at what we’ve already lost; perhaps if we felt exhilarated by the challenges we face and what might yet become possible. Briefly, we need to fall in love again, but this time with Nature, with Civilisation and with our hopes for the future.”
He founded EarthPercent to direct funding to the frontlines of climate justice while reducing the environmental impact of the music industry as a way for artists and music organizations to pledge a percentage of their income to support combating the climate crisis.
Join us for a conversation between Brian Eno and EarthPercent member and Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis (Prince, 3rdeyegirl) as they grapple with this moment and the arts’ role in tackling climate change. Moderated by The New York Times’ Jon Pareles.
About the panelists:
Brian Eno – musician, producer, visual artist, and activist first came to international prominence in the early 70s as a founding member of British band Roxy Music, followed by a series of solo albums and collaborations. His work as producer includes albums with Talking Heads, Devo, U2, Laurie Anderson, James, Jane Siberry, and Coldplay, while his long list of collaborations include recordings with David Bowie, Jon Hassell, Harold Budd, John Cale, David Byrne, Grace Jones, Karl Hyde, James Blake, and recently with his brother, Roger, on Mixing Colours. In August 2021, they performed together for the very first time to a rapturous audience at the Acropolis in Athens.
Brian Eno’s visual experiments with light and video continue to parallel his musical career, with exhibitions and installations all over the globe. To date he has released more than 40 albums of his own music and exhibited extensively, as far afield as the Venice Biennale, St. Petersburg’s Marble Palace, Ritan Park in Beijing, Arcos de Lapa in Rio de Janeiro, and the sails of the Sydney Opera House. He is a founding member of the Long Now Foundation, a trustee of Client Earth and patron of Videre est Credere. In April 2021, he launched EarthPercent, which raises money from the music industry for some of the most impactful environmental charities working on the climate emergency.
His latest album, ‘FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE’ was released on October 14, 2022.
Donna Grantis is an artist, guitarist, and composer from Tkaronto. From 2012 to 2016 she performed and recorded with Prince as a member of his funk-rock trio 3RDEYEGIRL, and supergroup New Power Generation. In 2019, Grantis fronted a 5-piece electric jazz quintet and released her critically acclaimed debut album, DIAMONDS & DYNAMITE. She was named one of the greatest female guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine.
Her newest creative project, Culture vs Policy, fuses the emotive power of music with thought-provoking dialogue about the climate and ecological crises. In collaboration with climate scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, policymakers, researchers, and sociologists, Grantis seeks to highlight in her art narratives that are at once existential and empowering. She aims to utilize sound to evoke feelings in the listener, while exploring how we relate to human impacts on planet Earth.
Jon Pareles has been the chief pop music critic of The New York Times since 1988, after working at Rolling Stone and the Village Voice and freelancing for many other publications. He was the contributing editor of the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. He majored in music at Yale University, where he played the carillon and gigged with various ensembles. He once marched at Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro dressed as the rainforest.