Emma Johnson: The Orchestra for the Environment

During lockdown Britain’s favourite clarinettist, national treasure Emma Johnson MBE, wrote a clarinet concerto entitled Tree of Life inspired by a need to express something in music about the climate crisis. Its first performance in the Kentish village of Lamberhurst with a handpicked team of like-minded musicians, The Orchestra for the Environment, was a triumph and has led to many more performances throughout the UK.

Evoking birdsong and the natural world, the music is accompanied by striking images of the environment by Edward Hutchison, which will be projected during the performance. It ends on an optimistic note: by working together we can effect change.

Music by Holst, Vaughan Williams and Paul Reade helps to complete this musical celebration of the natural world. We also mark the 100th anniversary of Puccini with his exquisite and rare instrumental work Crisantemi inspired by flowers. The concert ends with music that seems to come straight from the heart, Tchaikovsky’s great masterpiece, his Serenade for Strings.

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