Matilda Seppälä

Curbing the climate crisis will require urgent action everywhere, including the music business. But how difficult is it to translate words into deeds for someone whose entire career is based on touring, which carries a massive carbon footprint?

The relationship of art to society has always been complex. What is the role of music in a world of increasing crises and polarisation? How can art participate in social debate, and does it have a responsibility to do so? We asked three contemporary composers for their views.

The music of Cecilia Damström stems from expressiveness and the desire to make a difference. In music, the tiniest gestures can come across as political statements. At the Ung Nordisk Musik festival in Tampere in August 2020, Damström’s Requiem for our Earth puts the theme of this year’s event – Music Ecology – up front. “I was able to include an unusually large number of themes important for me in this Requiem,” says the composer.