THE CLIMATE SING

A New Songbook for Planet Earth

The Climate Sing is a global premiere of 13 new songs celebrating the magnificent Planet Earth that will take place during climate week in New York City in September 2026.

We are Lisa D’Amour, Amanda Cooper, Katie Pearl, Jonathan McCrory, AND Niegel Smith

We’ve come together with a shared passion around a big idea:  let’s commission 13 songs about planet earth from some of the most thrilling songwriters and composers of our time.  Passionate, joyful songs that lift up the current, urgent need to take care of our planet.  Songs designed to be sung a capella, or with acoustic accompaniment. Earth songs that can be sung anywhere by anyone, that can go viral and inspire action.

Our vision is to launch the songs throughout the 5 boroughs of New York City, DURING CLIMATE WEEK SEPTEMBER 2026, in a day-long song fest rooted in 13 community/arts organizations. 

Each songwriter will be in residence with one organization - getting to know the organizations before the launch, and participating in at least one community rehearsal party leading up to the day.  Then, on the day of The Climate Sing, these organizations will throw open their doors for a community event: think music, food, arts and crafts, and the songwriter leading everyone in a sing-a-long of their new song at the top of each hour. Audiences can visit all 13 sites or just one, following our Climate Sing Map. Each event will be streamed on Instagram live or parallel platforms. And anyone anywhere can download a copy of our Climate Sing Songbook featuring the words and music to all songs. 

In August of 2025, we beta-tested our idea with the support from Distracted Globe Foundation and Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The Climate Sing: First Tracks featured the premiere songs by our first two commissionees, the brilliant Eisa Davis and Sxip Shirey, as well as wild flower “seed cookie” making and collective banner drawing activities.

Inspired by protest songs of the 60’s, community spectacles such as the Mermaid Parade and New Orleans Mardi Gras, and choral traditions like community choirs and holiday caroling, The Climate Sing will get more people joyfully singing, coming together to love on our planet. Our medium is music – a new songbook of celebratory songs about Planet Earth. Together, we will joyfully raise climate awareness and take action. 

Climate Sing - First Tracks Artists

Eisa Davis & Sxip Shirey

The Timeline

We will  produce The Climate Sing in September 2026 as a weekend event at the end of the UN Climate Week. Our production calendar involves 4 phases:

  • Summer ‘24 - Summer ‘25:  Conception and Commissioning 

  • Fall ‘25 - Spring ‘26:  Development and Production

  • Spring ‘26:  Pre-Production

  • August - September ‘26: Rehearsals and Premiere 

  • October ‘26 - January ‘27: Wrap Up, Reporting, and Creation of Replicable Model

We are building a model that is replicable and repeatable. We will create a “How We Did It” page on our website, and be available to consult on how to create a Climate Sing in other communities. In the year after the city-wide event, we imagine one big joyous concert featuring all artists and all songs in one location. And eventually, we imagine concerts throughout the world. 


The Team

The Climate Sing team is a collective of artists and producers who love spectacle, maximalism and theater that centers care, collaboration, community and risk: Niegel Smith (Writer, Director, Performance Artist, and Artistic Director, Flea Theater); Amanda Cooper (Theater Administrator and Producer, Executive Director of ALC Arts); Lisa D’Amour (Playwright, Educator and Co-Artistic Director PearlDamour); Katie Pearl (Director, Educator and Co-Artistic Director PearlDamour); and Jonathan McCrory (Director, Actor and Executive Artistic Director of National Black Theater of Harlem).  

Contact

Amanda Cooper: amanda@alc-arts.com 

Niegel Smith: niegelsmith@gmail.com