Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

An orchestra of medical professionals in Durham, North Carolina, used YPCCC’s research to transform a musical concert into a call for climate action.

The DMO premiered the orchestral version of “The Automatic Earth,” by Durham composer Steven Bryant, at the event.

Key Takeaways

• Music and art are powerful tools for inspiring and scaling climate action, as the Durham Medical Orchestra (DMO) demonstrates. 
• Through YPCCC’s Yale Climate Opinion Maps, Six Americas segmentation, and messaging insights specific to Durham, North Carolina, DMO found that action-oriented climate messaging — rather than gloom and doom narratives — was effective and energizing for both performers and concert-goers alike. 
• By engaging with important issues such as climate change, DMO attracted new audiences to their work. 
• The DMO provides a model for how other arts and cultural organizations can strategically understand and engage audiences to expand their impact.

Listen to the concert: https://www.youtube.com/live/J0htOAfFxJ8?feature=shared&t=3229

The Emerging Role of Music in Climate Communication and Engagement

Art can be a powerful force in communicating the urgency of climate change, raising awareness, and inspiring meaningful action. With its ability to tell stories, stir emotion, build connections, engage large audiences, and reflect cultural values, art reaches people in ways that data and science alone often can’t, especially those who aren’t regularly engaged with climate information (Corbett & Clark, 2017). It serves as an outlet for the artists and a way to communicate with audiences. 

Music, in particular, holds unique potential as a climate communication tool. It activates emotional centers in the brain, fosters empathy, and helps people feel more connected to each other. Music can also create shared experiences that build collective identity (Mehr et al., 2019). These qualities make it a compelling way to motivate action and bring communities together around a common cause. It has even been used successfully to bridge divides between groups with opposing views (Reese, 2015).

While the long-term impact of music-driven climate strategies is still being studied, musicians are already addressing the climate crisis. Although musicians and artists recognize the power of their work, many remain uncertain about their audiences’ views on climate change or how to frame their art to inspire meaningful action. By leveraging research on local climate perceptions, artists can better understand their audiences and more effectively use their work to drive climate action, attract donor support, and gain backing from platforms for climate-focused projects. In this way, they can effectively use art as a form of strategic climate communication. 

Organizations like the Durham Medical Orchestra are applying YPCCC’s research to tailor their messaging through music, demonstrating how artists can create a meaningful impact through culturally relevant and emotionally resonant art.

Durham Medical Orchestra: Background

The Durham Medical Orchestra (DMO) is made up of more than 90 volunteer musicians who are health-related professionals, medical and graduate students of the life sciences, and community members in Durham, North Carolina. Founded in 2010, the orchestra performs major classical compositions as well as contemporary and newly commissioned works. For many, the DMO serves as a community space and a respite from the stress of the medical field. The orchestra frequently programs concerts around health-related themes, such as cancer and dementia, with audiences typically consisting of family and friends of orchestra members, as well as residents from senior centers.

In 2023, inspired by her daughter, the urgent realities of climate change, as well as the desire to engage a new constituency within DMO’s concert audience, Artistic Director Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant announced that the orchestra would hold a concert on the theme of climate change and health. A committee of orchestra members was formed to develop the strategy and messages for the concert. The committee benefited from having Yale Climate Connections Editor-in-Chief Sara Peach as a member. Her deep familiarity with YPCCC’s research aided the committee in understanding two key audiences– the orchestra members themselves and the broader Durham, North Carolina community. While every group may not have a communications expert on their team, YPCCC’s tools and research insights are publicly available and can empower any group to communicate on climate change through art. 

Using YPCCC Research to Craft a Messaging Approach

To start developing a messaging approach for the concert, DMO committee members used the  Yale Climate Opinion Maps to understand the landscape of climate concern in Durham. Many committee members initially underestimated the level of concern about climate change in the Durham area, guessing that perhaps 20% of Durham residents think it is a real and urgent problem. However, using the Yale Climate Opinion Maps, they learned that 81% of Durham County residents believe global warming is real and 72% are worried about it, well above the national average. As a result, the committee decided to focus its messages toward those who were already worried.

After reviewing YPCCC’s Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes Report, the committee learned that those who are worried about climate change are most likely to ask, “What can individuals, communities, and governments do about climate change?” They also consulted with Ed Maibach of George Mason University, a co-investigator of the ongoing Climate Change in the American Mind study, who advised them that healthcare professionals are highly trusted messengers on this topic. Lastly, they reviewed YPCCC’s Global Warming’s Six Americas analysis and found that many individuals in the “Alarmed” segment are not yet active, but many say they would take action if asked to do so. 

With these research insights in mind, they decided to avoid gloom-and-doom messaging and to spend time on persuading the audience that climate change is a serious problem. Instead, they adopted four key health- and action-oriented messages that guided the selection of musical pieces as well as the development of the marketing materials and messaging delivered during the concert:

1. We are concerned health professionals and community members. 
2. Climate change is already affecting our health. 
3. We can take action, individually and together. 
4. We invite you to join us in taking action.

Using the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) to Educate and Activate DMO Members 

Recognizing healthcare professionals as important messengers on climate change, the committee used the concert preparation period as an opportunity to educate and activate DMO members,  equipping them to effectively communicate the four key messages during the concert and to share broader climate messages within their communities. To begin that work, the committee assessed the attitudes of DMO members, using a survey that included YPCCC’s SASSY questions. The survey revealed that most members fell into the Alarmed and Concerned segments, with none in the “Doubtful” or “Dismissive” segments. 

 The results of the SASSY survey of DMO members

These findings helped the committee move forward with complete confidence that the concert’s themes would not lead to backlash from orchestra members. 

In September 2024, the committee held a kick-off meeting to orient orchestra members, including an overview of the main threats of climate change to health, and encouragement to speak up about the topic. All orchestra members were invited to pledge to take a specific action, such as making their next car an electric vehicle.                                                                                                                      

Research in Practice: The DMO Concert’s Health- and Climate Action-related Messages

In December 2024, the concert took place, featuring musical pieces centered around climate change and nature, including a newly commissioned work by the orchestra. Approximately 1,000 people attended the event in person or via livestream, an above-average turnout that included new audience members, such as representatives from environmental groups.

The selection of musical pieces was led by Artistic Director Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant in collaboration with the orchestra committee. Drawing on research insights from YPCCC, they deliberately avoided “doom-and-gloom” themes and instead curated a program that balanced emotional honesty with hope. The goal was to acknowledge the gravity of the climate crisis and inspire climate action, while presenting music that would move the audience towards engagement with the issue and taking action.

The first half of the concert focused on confronting difficult emotions surrounding climate change such as fear, grief, and complicity. This emotional groundwork allowed both musicians and audience members to process the harsh realities of the crisis. The centerpiece of the section was the orchestral version of “The Automatic Earth,” by Durham composer Steven Bryant, a commissioned piece that DMO helped fund. As the longest piece in the first half, it served to evoke and validate these challenging emotions. 

The second half of the concert shifted toward a tone of hope and agency, using an uplifting and inspiring piece to show that climate action is still possible and meaningful. This section featured Beethoven’s 6th Symphony (“Pastoral”), chosen for its uplifting themes of harmony with nature. 

The orchestra also communicated its health and climate action messages in a few ways: 

• Connecting the dots: A panel discussion immediately preceding the concert featured a pulmonologist — also a violinist with the orchestra — describing how smoke from recent wildfires has affected his patients. Music composers featured at the event described their emotional relationships with climate change and the impact they hoped to create with their music.  
• Connecting the audience with solutions and action: The DMO shared suggested ways to take action from the stage, on the orchestra’s website, and in the printed concert program. 
• Building social norms: Audience members were told that orchestra members had pledged to take action. They were then invited to join in this action by writing pledges on leaf-shaped sticky notes that were attached to a banner depicting trees. The intent was to show visually how much the community can accomplish by working together.                         
• The DMO also encouraged the audience to contribute money to a Hurricane Helene relief project in western North Carolina. The catastrophic impact of Hurricane Helene had been widely discussed in the media and the community during the lead-up to the event. The orchestra raised more than $2,000 for the project on the day of the concert. 
• In addition, local chapters of environmental organizations, such as Citizens’ Climate Lobby and the Sierra Club, set up tables in the venue lobby, where they disseminated information and registered new members. 

 The back of the concert program featured suggested actions. Credit: Durham Medical Orchestra

Although some orchestra members were concerned about a poor response from donors or audience members, the concert was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Attendees shared their appreciation, expressing gratitude that the orchestra had taken the initiative to organize the event. During the performance, the audience was deeply engaged, responding with gasps and audible exclamations during the musical segments. Orchestra members also reported a strong, positive emotional response following the concert. While no formal evaluation was conducted, DMO observed a noticeable shift in energy and enthusiasm surrounding the event. 

Audience members wrote climate action pledges on leaf-shaped sticky notes. Credit: Durham Medical Orchestra

Conclusion

 As artists increasingly experience climate change and grapple with its impacts, many are expressing their reactions and seeking connection through their art. The concert’s success serves as a model for other organizations to lean into their power as messengers and leverage the power of art to effectively engage their audience on climate change. The orchestra’s work to understand its audience and leverage evidence-based practices is a model for anyone seeking to communicate effectively on climate. The orchestra also attracted new sponsors and audience members who were aligned with the environmental message of the event. YPCCC’s research & tools helped the DMO understand its audience and focus on action-oriented messaging, rather than gloom and doom or persuasion. This proved to be an effective and energizing strategy for both performers and concert-goers alike. Inviting community partners to host information tables at the event also proved to be an effective way to connect audience members to means of taking action. 

Listen to the concert: https://www.youtube.com/live/J0htOAfFxJ8?feature=shared&t=3229

References

Corbett, J., & Clark, B.  (2017, May 24). The Arts and Humanities in Climate Change Engagement. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science. https://oxfordre.com/climatescience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228620-e-392.

Mehr et al. (2019). Universality and diversity in human song. Science, 366(6468). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0868 

Reese, A. (2015, April 12). How can music inspire social change? Facing history and ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/ideas-week/how-can-music-inspire-social-change