In May 2022 I began a 7-year project to perform a free piano concert in each of Vermont’s 252 towns, to call attention to the climate crisis and call into question the normality of long-distance touring, while celebrating Vermont’s community life through music. The project has four pillars:

I stopped flying several years ago out of climate concern. This meant turning down distant performance invitations. So I launched this radically local tour instead, traversing Vermont in my solar-charged EV, playing churches, Granges, schools, and town halls. This challenges academia’s prestige economy, which rewards faculty for traveling as far and as often as possible.

Against the odds, Vermont’s 252 towns have maintained distinct, vibrant identities. This project both celebrates and contributes to the vitality of Vermont’s downtowns and village centers in the face of competition from social media, streaming, and strip malls. Many of the concerts also support local efforts to revive historic village gathering places.

At each concert I’m joined by one or more local musicians, from students to stars. Concerts are also fundraisers for a local or state environmental organization.

Individual choices won’t solve a planetary crisis. We need emergency collective action on an unprecedented scale—and that can’t happen in silence. Every concert, every interview, and every article normalizes public climate communication and activism.

I post a writeup of each concert on the Concerts page with text, pictures, and recordings. This video gives a sense of the variety of music, collaborators, locations, and pianos.