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Terra Nostra

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Read the poem

"It's a magnificent half hour."

— Bill McKibben, The New Yorker

Finalist, Deep Focus Film Festival 2020
Official Selection American Documentary and Animation Film Festival 2020
Winner Award of Merit Special Mention Best Shorts Competition
Honorable Mention Independent Shorts Awards Los Angeles October 2019
Winner Award of Merit Special Mention Impact! Docs Awards
Winner Top Shorts Film Festival 2019
Photographed by Yoshiki Nakamura © Seattle Digital Photography

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Photographed by Yoshiki Nakamura © Seattle Digital Photography

Terra Nostra shows the beauty of the natural world and the threats faced by it. No previous experience with or knowledge of classical music is needed to be touched by Terra Nostra. It makes climate change urgent and visceral through music and photographs, stimulates people to challenge themselves to learn more about the issues, and motivates them to see what practical steps they can take in their own lives and communities.

We hope to spark other artistic explorations of this subject. There is no need to stay in the realm of orchestral music or limit ourselves to the current suite of images. We encourage further collaborations between the arts, science, and education communities. Those who experience Terra Nostra will be empowered to explore further with others.

About

Photographed by Yoshiki Nakamura © Seattle Digital Photography

Terra Nostra is a 30-minute multimedia symphony about climate change composed by Christophe Chagnard with poetry by Emily Siff and a film by Charlie Spears from Hullabaloo. It was created to Engage, Educate, Inspire, and Empower people to move for personal and policy change to protect our earth. It is an evocative combination of orchestral music, poetry, and film, intended to invite broad discourse and inspire concrete initiatives in diverse audiences in ways science alone may not. It premiered in June 2015 to critical acclaim, was revised in 2018 and recorded in 2019 by Seattle Music with the composer conducting. The film was released in July 2019. In 2016, the non-profit organization Sustainable Seattle became Terra Nostra's fiscal sponsor. In 2020, Terra Nostra founded Earth Creative as its own umbrella organization in order to broaden its reach to all art disciplines.

News and Events

Photo by Radek Grzybowski on Unsplash

Support Terra Nostra

Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

We would love to have your help in bringing out the best of Terra Nostra. All our donors — of any amount — will be named and thanked, unless they prefer to remain anonymous.

Terra Nostra is the marquee creation of Earth Creative, which is a 501(c)3 organization, Federal ID #85-1950354. DONATIONS sent to Earth Creative benefit Terra Nostra.

The Donate button above links to a secure donation page on PayPal specific to Earth Creative. Your donation will appear on your credit card statement as going to Earth Creative and you will receive a confirmation e-mail from us. And, because we can’t say it enough, thank you!

For in-kind donations or if you're looking for other ways to get involved, see the Engage section of this site.

Many thanks to our supporters:

Anonymous

Ellis Amdur

Christian Amonson

Neil Andersson

Dean Backholm

Jeff Barr

Valerie Barron

David Batker

Lisa Bauer

Laura Baumwall

Sarah Bell

Jessica Berger

Elyas Beria

Eric Berman

Scope 5 and the Bernet Family

Adam Block

Sue Bohn

Mary Jane Brain

Clayton Brainerd

Caitlin Breen

Brad Brickman

Kevin Brinck

Karen Brookman

Rebecca Buchanan

Averil Budge

Sheldon Calbero

Allison Capen

Tamre Cardoso

Pamela Hobart Carter

Mike Center

Christophe Chagnard

Eric Chagnard

Jo Nardolillo Chagnard

Sharon Chen

William Chen

Megan Jones Clark

Magda Cockerline

Barbara Cohen

Loveday Conquest

Kathleen Conroy

Brenda Cooper

Erin Cordry

Linda A. Cornfield

Jane Crane

Joan Crooks

BJ Cummings

Mary Curiel

Tracy Dethlefs

Kathy and Steve Dewalt

Denise Dillenbeck

Casey Dilloway

George Divoky

William L. Donnelly

Rebecca Doyle-Walker

Patrick Drum

Andy Eccleshall

Ron Ein

Brian Emanuels

Karen Siff Exkorn

Joel Fan

Zach Ferry

Alison Fujino

Mary Frances Fulfer

Priya George, Power in Place

Richard Goodfried and Mary McCauley

Cynthia Gordon

Evan Gordon - Wollin

Nancy Gove

Jennifer Grimes

Kathryn Habedank

Katrina Hajagos, Power in Place

Jane Harvey

Denis Hayes

Margaret Hennessy

Henryk Hiller

Lisa Hirayama

Juanita Holmes

Dave Hoots

Thomas Horsley

Lynn Hubbard

Ellie Humphries

Saang-Yoon Hyun

Christian Jacob

Tim and Virginia Janof

Peter Jarrell

Jimmy Jia

Barbara Johns

Amy Johnson

Jean Johnson

Krysia Johnson

Rick Johnson

Bruce Jones

Debby and Barton Jones

Noah Kardos-Fein

Garrett Kephart

Francine Kershaw

Anthony Keys

Adam Kolton

Christina Koons

Elliot Koontz

Garnnet Krantz

Eric Krauss

Eva and Jon LaFOLLETTE

Terry Latshaw

Laurie Lauterbach

Evelyn Lessard

Arlene Levy

Deborah F. Light

Avery Littman

Jim Loomis

Caleb Lubetkin

Martie Lubetkin

Mike and Emma Lubetkin

Miriam Lubetkin

Noah Lubetkin

Susan and Jeff Lubetkin

Zach Lubetkin

The Lucas Family

Elise Lufkin

Shaya Lyon

Mary Manous, on behalf of Cascadia Climate Action

Marc Marasco

Heather Marcinowski and Lindley Swift

Paul Marsh

Michael Matlock

Dave Matsuda

Sarah Mattox

Natalie Mayer

Deidre McCormack

John McGarry

Jill McNeil

Kamy Merithew

Jason Merrill

Susan Methfessel

Susan Miller

Melinda Minch

Miriam Moussaioff

Ken Mundt

Melanie Muradian

Nicholas Musser

Ramez Naam

Brad Nelson

Cody Nelson

Richard Nelson

Joëlle Chagnard Nübold

Jack Novatney

Kathy O'Driscoll

Kevin Owyang

Isabelle Perrin

Ron Peters

Lesley Petty

Julie Pham

Emily Piro

Heather Price

Jennifer Priester

Elta Ratliff

Lorraine Read

Gretchen Rice

Ryan Richter

Tonya Roe

Janna Rolland

Jon and Pat Rosen

Greg Ruby

Willow Russell

Francie Rutherford

Phyllis Sands

Julian Schwarz

Judson Scott

Kevin See

Jonathon Shakes

Jane Shanaman and Doug Granum

Meredith Shank

Craig Sheppard

Paul Shoemaker

Larry Siff

Greg Simon

Melissa Singletary

Jana Skillingstead

Ethan Sobotta

Stephanie Solien and Frank Greer

Erik Stanford

E. Ashley Steel

Rich Stolz

Marie Stott

Carmen Suazo and Jim Waldref

Stephen Sumida

Lea Sund

Linda Swartz

Ellen Swift

Nelda Swiggett

Jeff Thiel

Mark Titus

Molly Tobias

Kay Treakle

Heather Trim

James Truher

Rebecca Valentine

Blandine van de Velde

Jeremy Vassallo

Jason Vo

Kevin Vortmann

Cordy Wagner

Scott Warfield

Joe Warren

Kathy Washienko

Rebecca Moore Weber

Katrina Wellman

Alana Marie White

Bret Wilkerson

Michelle Williams

David Williamson

Jessie and David Woolley-Wilson

Daniel Wright

Kerry Yanasek

Janet Young

additional support from

The Bullitt Foundation

Seattle Symphony Ten Grands

The Creative Fund

themes sponsored by

Katrina Hajagos and Priya George, Power in Place (Humankind: She)

Tim and Virginia Janof (Rivers)

Laurie Lauterbach (Time)

Ramez Naam (Ocean)

Jack Novatney (Population Growth)

Stephanie Solien and Frank Greer (Water)

Kathy Washienko (Seeking Solutions)

other thanks

Website by Melinda Minch

Graphic design by Elyas Beria

Photography by Yoshiki Nakamura

Terra Nostra trailer concept and text by Mark Titus and video editing by Tracy Dethlefs

Terra Nostra preview sound editing by Mike Brooks, narration by Lisa Bergman, and video editing by Jason Vo

I’ve now watched Terra Nostra from beginning to finish for a total of six times. The word amazing would be an understatement.
Jessica Berger, Harvey Mudd College development office