I have come to studying music late in life. I am now 68 years old and have studied online with the Open College of the Arts for 12 years towards a BA hons degree in music. The course specialises in composition. Something which I began to fill my time with as a hobby has become something at which I have ended up achieving results. The final composition module (HE6), for which I composed 25 minutes of music for various ensembles, including a ten minute orchestral piece with some electronics, earned me a mark of 93%. I was told I had the potential to be a composer and that my work considerably exceeded what was expected at degree level. In preparation for getting work played in the wider world, the final part of the course consists of arranging a concert or event at which my music is performed.

I have teamed up with a climate scientist to put on a musical seminar in the middle part of a concert to premiere four of my works. The climate scientist will give an overview of the world climate and where it is heading, some of which may be new to many people because the information on the mass media is very limited. This talk will be immediately followed by a performance of a piano piece I wrote as an emotional reaction to what I had read myself about the situation from some reliable sources online. The climate scientist has validated what I found out. There will be questions from the audience to a panel after the piece has been played.

Making music is much more to me than getting a degree or even a career (at the 11th hour). It is about communicating. It is about getting across what I cannot put into words. It is in this case about trying to stir the emotions of others so that they might want to join the cause in some way to get something serious done about the terrible situation with the world climate.

There is a lot of work that has to be done to make even a Zoom event of this kind happen and work. The course requires that I raise money to cover the costs. I have estimated that I could reasonably expect to raise about £200 from the sale of tickets. The total cost of putting it on is about £500. Most of the costs are to pay the pianist, the climate scientist and the chair of the panel, who will also ensure that the event goes to plan.

I need probably £300 to break even. If tickets sales are low then that heads in the direction of up to £500. If more people buy tickets then it goes below £300.

If this idea appeals to you then perhaps you might consider donating something towards it. It is due to happen on 21st June 2023. Booking information will be made available on my website https://christopherbarchard.com/ as well as other places online.