Long for This World

Long for This World is an idea I’ve been incubating for several years. It will be a growing book of songs for a cappella treble chorus. Each song will be based on the lifecycles/natural history/characteristics of an animal on the ever-growing endangered/threatened/vulnerable species list. Working with choruses around the world in conversation with scientists and educators local to each, we’ll create original music rooted in the concerns of each chorus’s community.

There is nothing more powerful than a room full of people singing together. The human voice is the original expressive instrument and is accessible to all, and choruses are the ultimate manifestation of community collaboration. To sing in a chorus is to practice clarity, flexibility, tolerance, empathy, and unity. Not only is the sound of each chorus a direct and deep reflection of the community from which it comes, but the network of relationships that develop in the context of a chorus reach far outside the boundaries of the rehearsal room and the stage. 

I have chosen to engage Treble Choruses specifically for this first chapter of Long for This World, because now, more than ever, we need to collectively make a space for voices that have long been underrepresented – namely women and youth. 

If you are connected to a chorus that would like to create a song with me for this international project, please reach out to me at carla@carlakihlstedt.com.