The Climate Museum welcomed the internationally celebrated Iris Trio for a performance from The Blue and Green Chapters of Project Earth, their multi-year project in response to the climate crisis. Through chamber music and poetry, the ensemble addresses climate change, pollution, habitat degradation, and biodiversity loss, while also centering the beauty and wonder found in nature.

The Blue Chapter features original compositions by Juno Award-winning composer and jazz pianist Florian Hoefner, with original poetry written and recited by Griffin Prize-winning poet Don McKay. The result unites the Iris Trio’s “exquisite balance of sound” (Augsburger Allgemeine) with a remarkable new body of chamber music that blends classical, jazz, and folk genres. The Green Chapter includes new commissions by Juno Award-winning musicians Sarah Slean and Andrew Downing and original poetry by Griffin Prize-winning poet Karen Solie. 

In addition to the performances, the program included a conversation with Climate Museum Vice Chair Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, who is a Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute and who has received the Nobel Peace Prize and the World Food Prize for her work on climate. The impacts of land use and farming practices on climate change, one of Dr. Rosenzweig’s areas of expertise, are a thematic focus of the Trio’s Green Chapter. 

Launched in 2013, the Iris Trio includes founding members Christine Carter (clarinet) and Anna Petrova (piano) as well as Zoë Martin-Doike (viola), who joined the group in 2022—three “extraordinarily, mutually attuned practitioners” (Classical-Modern Music Review). Each member of this illustrious ensemble is an accomplished artist in their own right, performing on stages worldwide at such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Sydney Opera House. 

View the livestream recording here.