How musicians and orchestras are making performances greener

Music itself does not create carbon dioxide, but orchestras on tour often wind up with a fair-sized carbon footprint. Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

Music itself does not create carbon dioxide, but orchestras on tour often wind up with a fair-sized carbon footprint.

Those trips involve moving musicians and their instruments around the world, with travel often required for rehearsals as well.

On top of that, there are the stacks of paper used for sheet music, rehearsal plans and programmes – plus all the energy it takes to run concert halls.

That’s something orchestras are becoming increasingly aware of, prompting musicians to set up the Orchestra of Change in 2020.

Those involved are starting to look at and reduce their emissions and are also giving “climate concerts” to raise awareness about the problem and collect donations for climate protection projects.

“Our main concern is to take away the fear of this topic. Rather, we see climate protection as an artistic inspiration for us as an orchestra, but also for our audience,” says spokesperson Ulrich Haider, a musician in the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Freelance artists and members of around 30 orchestras in Germany have joined the initiative.

The Nuremberg State Philharmonic was among the founders and has now extended its commitment to becoming climate neutral to the other sections of the State Theatre.

That involves questioning processes in all areas and making them more environmentally friendly, using less resources, says Veronika Zucker, a musician.

She and her colleague Martin Möhler say the German cultural scene has a long way to go. Usually, small initiatives started by staff are what gets things moving, says Möhler, a clarinettist.

“It would be nice if the institutions would participate just as actively in this process. For example, only two opera houses in Germany have full-time sustainability officers so far.”

Across the border in Austria, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra has been offsetting carbon emissions produced during tours and guest performances when musicians fly or instruments are transported, for example by truck, since 2020.

But there needs to be much more of a joint, cross-industry effort, says spokesperson Julia Brüggemann.

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra has set up a “climate group” along with a range of other efforts to help the environment, including sending out rehearsal schedules and previews by email, rather than printing them out.

On tours, the artists try to choose destinations that make sense in geographical terms, to reduce the distances travelled.

The German Stage Association has embraced these efforts. It is involved in an international exchange with other orchestra associations, such as the Association of British Orchestras ABO. It’s also a founding member of a sustainability network and works with the German Federal Cultural Foundation on the issue.

Many orchestras are starting to use buses or trains whenever possible as a further way to reduce the impact of travel.

However, Executive Director Marc Grandmontagne says sometimes, this is more expensive.

“These journeys are highly complicated from an organizational point of view, many people and valuable instruments have to be transported. Due to longer travel times, longer distances and more overnight stays, travelling would then be more expensive than before in some cases.”

Only 18% of an orchestra’s emissions were due to travel, he adds, referring to research by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Meanwhile some 74% of emissions are caused by the event itself, the analysis said, through the trips made by the audience and concert hall emissions.

These are areas that orchestras cannot influence directly, says Grandmontagne.

There are no simple solutions. “But it is good that the topic is now gaining momentum. It’s necessary in all areas of society,” he says.

Musicians of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn have also joined the Orchestra of Change initiative, and encourage staff and audience members to travel by bicycle or public transport where possible.

The approach echoes one taken by the Minnesota Orchestra in 2017, which launched a programme to encourage concertgoers to bike to the orchestra hall.

Cycling concertgoers were given a discount on the price of a ticket for a future concert, with officials saying the approach was small but a symbolic attempt to persuade patrons to ditch their cars.

The German musicians also see potential for reducing the energy used in lighting and air conditioning and to improve insulation.

Musicians in London have also looked into ways to convert to using renewable energy at concert halls. Energy efficiency is the place to start, according to Julie’s Bicycle, an environmental group which carried out a study for the Arts Council England.

Julie’s Bicycle now offers climate leadership courses for cultural professionals in Britain and Scandinavia.

The group also offers consultancy on issues from guidance for holding environmentally-friendly events outside to choosing sustainable catering.

Meanwhile in the United States, a concert hall in San Francisco fitted solar panels to its roof to raise its share of clean energy.

Architects and engineers worked to create an environment to enhance the music of the San Francisco Symphony and the beauty of the structure itself, according to Fidelity Roof.

The Bonn musicians next plan to focus on content, and create thematic concerts, theatre performances and discussions. They also want to work together with scientists and environmental initiatives, says violist Thomas Plümacher.

These journeys, among the musicians and with the audience, affecting the lighting or printed programmes are important steps within a larger movement, says Brüggemann of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

In future, concert organisers, orchestras and cities should work together to promote climate protection in the cultural sector, she says. “Even small steps can make a big difference.” – dpa