Welcome to Vital Signs of the Planet, a virtual concert where NASA and National Geographic join young global leaders and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for epic climate concert. This powerful concert acted as a special moment for global youth and the arts to speak for the planet and share their voices during Earth’s vital time of need in the face of the climate crisis.  

Watch as the power of music, combined with new dramatic footage from NASA and National Geographic, bring the impact of climate change over the last 20 years on planet Earth to the forefront for a powerful cinematic event that took place last year at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall during COP26 and as part of our Green Room programme.  

During Vital Signs of the Planet you will see Royal Conservatoire musicians, young leaders, champions of the environmental movement as well as internationally renowned artists tell their stories of climate change throughout this concert designed to inspire and motivate audiences across the world. The 100-strong symphony orchestra of young musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and its Junior Conservatoire joined together, alongside internationally recognised conductor Emil de Cou, singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield, and the Global Climate Uprising Festival to create this hour-long symphonic spectacular blending music and cinematic visuals. 

The concert was presented in partnership by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Global Climate Uprising Festival and is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

Featuring:

Andrea Gajic, Violin (Vivaldi, Four Seasons)

Claire Lumsden, Soprano (Giacchino, Advent)

Natasha Bedingfield ft. Little Acres (Unwritten)

Speakers:

Natalie Sinclair (Scotland)

Agar Iklenia Castro Tejada & Iniquilipi Chiari (Panama)

Cedric Dzeluc (Ghana)

Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti (Kenya)

Conductor — Emil de Cou


American conductor Emil de Cou is currently the music director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and has appeared with some of the country’s leading orchestras, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Saint Louis, and the Boston Pops. Emil was also conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for eight seasons.

After Emil’s debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in 2000, he joined the orchestra as associate conductor, and has remained a regular figure at the Kennedy Center since his first performances there in 1988. His innovative concerts have included the world premiere screenings of The Wizard of Oz with the score performed by live orchestra, the first-ever live-tweeted program notes (Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony), and a live, in real time podcast for a concert called Fantastic Planet. In 2006 he led the NSO in the Wolf Trap premiere of NASA’s images with Holst’s The Planets narrated by Leonard Nimoy.

With NASA, he has conducted several successful collaborations, including Human Spaceflight: The Kennedy Legacy, in honour of the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s declaration to land a man on the moon, and in 2019, a concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the lunar surface.

Learn more about Emil de Cou

Introducing

Guest Artists

Natasha Bedingfield


Ever since her Grammy-nominated multi-platinum solo debut in 2004, British-born Natasha Bedingfield has been one of the world’s most inspiring and innovative female singer-songwriters.

With three albums under her belt and a diverse set of collaborations with artists such as Nikki Minaj, Big Sean, Brandy, Rascal Flatts, Lifehouse and Lang Lang, her artistic breadth is unmatched.

Hits like Unwritten, These Words and Pocketful of Sunshine, Single, Soulmate and Love Like This topped international charts. Natasha has had more than 20 of her songs used in films, which says a lot about her versatility. As a dynamic performer with a powerfully soulful voice, Natasha has toured extensively around the globe and has performed at numerous, distinguished events including the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, the Dalai Lama’s Common Ground for Peace and the White House’s The Motown Sound.

Natasha co-wrote and collaborated with artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow and others on a project called Love Song to the Earth, a song to raise awareness of the problem of Climate Change.

She was asked to perform the song at the UN General Assembly in front of many world leaders and also during the Pope’s visit and address on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Most recently her song Unwritten has had a revival as the trending summer song of Tiktok. Inspiring a huge amount or engagement from a new generation. Also her collaboration with influencers on this platform earned her a VMAs nomination and put her in Tiktoks front page as someone to follow.

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Orchestra

Traditional Musicians

Finlay Cameron (Piper)

Finlay Frame (Piper)

Ciar Milne (Piper)

Ben Muir (Piper)

Darren Brown (Drummer)

Chloe Taylor (Drummer)

Flute

Adam Richardson

Lucy Rowan

Matilda Coulton (piccolo)

 

Oboe

Ross Williams

Olivia Overend

Cor Anglais

Annabelle Pizzey

Clarinet

Aaron Hartnell-Booth

Raj Bhaumik

Osian Dance (bass clarinet)

Bassoon

Emma Simpson

Fergus Butt

Tom Donkin

Kaylyn McKeown (contra)

Horn

Anya Flanagan

Gabi Rodriguez

Matthew Sayers

Ben Dickinson

Ross Donaldson

Robert Johnston

Trumpet

Mark Elwis

Kyterra Waters

Megan Bousfield

Eoin O’Gorman

Danni Woodnutt

Trombone

Dylan Findlay

Symone Hutchison

Joshua Parkhill

Anthony Santiago

Tuba

Jack Cullen

Timpani

Ewan Millar

Percussion

David Kerr*

David Almeida

Zach Mitchell

Noah Chalamanda

Fraser Peel

Violin 1

Huixin Hu

Elizabeth Gange

Paul Docherty

Chun-Yi Kang

Inês Soares

Elanor Leydecker

Nikodem Rodzeń

Nina Doig

Rachel Culpan

Sophie Chin

Ken Fairbrother

India Reilly

Maria Malakouna

Alberto Brunelli-Bonet

Luisa Sousa

Scott Bryant

Violin 2

Daniel Joseph Harding

Yik Liang Soo

Laetitia Pannetier

Helena Downie

Maria Turowska

Hannah De Bordes

Tsui See Trasy Leung

Duncan Richards

Yuki Liew

Fiona Cantlay

Kane Howard-Bunt

Naomi Priestnall

Olivia Edmundson-Andrade

Weronika Kuffel

Viola

Jasmine Ong

Florencia Cozza

Gordon Cervoni

Daisy Richards

George Hillier

Lilia Rubin

Emilian-Teodor Danila

Gina Wright

Teresa Ferreira

Gordon McLaren

Alasdair Habuki-Bedford

Sarah Hanniffy

Cello

Jalayne Mitchell

JaeMin Kim Kang

Josiah Duhlstine

Ben Cummings

Khalil Johnson

Rhona Pryce

Ayla Mascarenhas

Shakira Segalla-Humbert

BenAvram Grynberg

Freya Ruuskanen

Double Bass

Brendan Norris

Anna-Philippa Arttio

Maximilian Lamprecht

Jennie Gillespie

Emily McDougall

Rhona MacDonald

Megan Warnock

Joe McLaren

Harp

Aimee Clark (RVW)

Gina Gallacher (Advent)

Piano/Celeste

Alexandru-Stefan Placinta

Organ/Harpsichord

Andrew Forbes*

Rhythm Section (Bedingfield)

Drums: Garry Simpson

Guitar: Conor Smith*

Piano/Keys: John Lowrie*

Bass: Laurie Moore

The orchestra is comprised of RCS students and members of the RCS Junior Conservatoire.  Guest players are marked with a *.

Special Mentions

With Thanks

We would like to extend our thanks to those below for their help and support of Vital Signs of the Planet. 

 

Thanks to our RCS colleagues:

David Watkin

Alvin Ho

Emilie Godden

John Logan

Allan Neave

Aaron Shorr

Fali Pavri

Karen Cargill

Tommy Smith 

 

Thank you to NASA and National Geographic for the visual elements of the concert.

 

Debussy / La Mer

Katy Mersmann – Lead Producer and Editor

Wade Sisler – Producer

Data Visualization by the NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio – Horace Mitchell, Greg Shirah, Alex Kekesi, Lori Perkins, Ernie Wright, Trent Schindler

 

Vivaldi / The Four Seasons

Alison Gold – Lead Producer and Editor

Producer – Wade Sisler

Images Courtesy USGS and NASA Landsat Program – Kevin Ward, NASA’s Earth Observatory, Allison Nussbaum, Ginger Butcher


The Global Climate Uprising Festival

Vital Signs of the Planet formed part The Global Climate Uprising Festival which brought partnerships of international climate change and environmental organizations, educational and cultural institutions, artists, and activists to present their work in climate change research, advocacy, and new solutions through the power of media, art, and technology at COP26.

Bonnie Nelson Schwartz

Producer/Director
International producer of theatre, television, concerts, and festivals with more than 100 plays, films, television programs and concerts in Washington DC, New York, London, and South Africa; the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Lillehammer, and Atlanta, Broadway, Carnegie Hall, and over 25 years of concert productions at the John F. Kennedy Center

Jayni Chase

Chair Friends of the Earth
Executive Producer
In 1987 Jayni founded the Center for Environmental Education to advance K-12 environmental education (EE). Author of Blueprint for a Green School, a resource guide for greening schools, Jayni also serves on the board of Billion Oyster Project (BOP) and has received many honors and awards for her pioneering work in EE. She participated in the Clinton Global Initiative and trained with Al Gore to present his Climate Reality Slide Show.

Margaret Johnson

Producer, Lake Arts Foundation
Margaret launched Lake Arts Foundation to develop unique original programming for international artists in film, theatre and dance through collaborations with arts organizations, universities and individual artists. A development executive at both Disney and Paramount Studios, she has worked in L.A., New York, London and Japan.

Emily Chase

Assistant Producer
Emily currently works at the National Audubon Society, where she is the Senior Director of Development Leadership. She has experience running educational programs for adults and children in the environmental nonprofit space, as well as extensive experience writing and editing. Other credits include the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, NRDC, CharityBuzz and Rolling Stone Magazine.