Sounds of Climate Justice Study Day Event
- Time:
- 09:30 to 17:30
- Date:
- 2026-02-24 09:30:00
- Venue:
- Dance Studio room, Sir James Matthews Building, Guildhall Square, Southampton
Event details
The Southampton Centre for Music Education and Social Justice (CMESJ) is pleased to announce our Study Day on ‘Sounds of Climate Justice’ on Tuesday 24 February 2026.
We have invited submissions for provocations of c.10 minutes relating to any intersectional reflections about / musical responses to the challenges of the climate crisis, and interventions that music studies can make in the pursuit of climate justice. This will be an in-person study day, although virtual or pre-recorded presentations will be accommodated.
The Keynote will be a performance of an interactive piece composed by Jenny Guilford and Ellan A. Lincoln-Hyde. Climate of the Bells is an outdoor, site-responsive keynote composition that traces a ‘year of birdsong’ from Southampton, performed through artefacts drawn from university, public, and private collections, including hand bells and repurposed industrial materials. As the piece unfolds, audiences move through the space, encountering seasonal songs and maritime resonances in a multispecies soundscape. The work foregrounds ecological rhythms, collective care, and interspecies attunement, transforming listening into an immersive, participatory experience. Composers: Jenny Guilford and Ellan A. Lincoln-Hyde, jointly The (In)Equal Temperament Project .
Contact: Erin Johnson-Williams at e.johnson-williams@soton.ac.uk
Register to attend the Sounds of Climate Justice Study Day
About the Southampton Centre for Music Education and Social Justice (CMESJ)
Organising Commitee
Erin Johnson-Williams (University of Southampton)
Chi Ying Lam (University of Southampton)
Ellan A. Lincoln-Hyde (SOAS University of London)
Lawrence Davies (University of Huddersfield)
Amy Williamson (University of Southampton)
Study Day SCHEDULE
9:00: Coffee and welcome
9:30–11:30 Session A (Chair: Lawrence Davies)
Simon Waite , ‘Beloveds’
Angela Rawlings / Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta (Glacier for President) , ‘Glacial Withness: Listening at the Edge of Planetary Boundaries’
Andrew Lansley , ‘Party in the Polycrisis! How Music Can (Actually) Save the World’
Ross Purves , ‘Rethinking 21st century musicianship – a provocation’
Bridget Whyte , ‘This is Not a Rehearsal: Embedding Sustainability into Music Organisations’
11:30 – 12:00 BREAK
12:00 – 12:45 – KEYNOTE
13:15 – 14:15 – LUNCH
14:15 – 16:15 – SESSION B (Chair: Benjamin Oliver)
Dikshant Uprety , ‘What Does it Mean to Compose Music for Climate Change?’
Heather Mease , ‘Melodic Landscapes and Erasure’
Dr L. Gre , ‘Witness’
16:15 – 16:45 – BREAK
16:45 – 17:30 – Closing plenary / manifesto brainstorm (Chair: Erin Johnson-Williams)
17:30 – Close