Abstract
Warning! May cause harmony to the environment! (Heatwole 2011) was the lead line in a 2011 promotion for a performance by Ecopella. While plenty a pun is used in the promotions of Ecopella, Miguel Heatwole, the musical director and founder, and the members of the choir are serious about environmental activism. Ecopella suspects that audiences might imagine an environmentally active choir to be a gloomy ensemble. The choir admits that while the repertoire contains some solemn work it also contains quite a number of witty, satirical and very funny pieces (Heatwole 2011). This article examines the expression of environmental activism in the repertoire and performances of the community choir Ecopella. The choir is not definitive of the convergence of community choirs and environmental activism choralecology but acts as a specific iteration. The article engages with discussions emerging from ecomusicology in an effort to add to the discourse which falls within the ambit of music, culture and nature (Torvinen and Engstrom 2013). It most readily engages with the three aspects of environmental activism and popular music that Pedelty (2012: 7) identified as communication, art and advocacy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 30-38 |
| Journal | Social Alternatives |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |