On the heels of Electric Earth Concerts of
Peterborough, NH's recent grant award from the
National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), we
decided to highlight their wonderful organization
in this month's Arts Spotlight. Please enjoy.
Please tell me the basics about Electric
Earth Concerts... when the
organization startedand why.
Laura Gilbert and I (Jonathan Bagg)
foundedElectric Earth Concerts in 2012. We
both had spent many years performing in
theregion, so we knew our audience before we
started EEC - a core group of musiclovers who
would appreciate the kind of programming and
artists we intended tobring. We also were
determined to reach audiences in the area who
might notcome to our concerts due to disabilities
or the fact that they wereschool-kids. This dual
purpose is written into our mission, and each
year wegive many free concerts at homes for
people with disabilities and schools, inaddition
to our public concerts at beautiful churches and
meetinghouses andplaces with wonderful
acoustics. Since the beginning we’ve supported ouractivities through ticket sales, private
donations, and foundation grants. Thisyear’s grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
is a coming of age ofsorts, signaling our arrival as an organization that has gained the
support ofour national institutions. Our name and philosophy are inspired by
Beethoven’swords: "Music is the electric soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, andinvents.”
Beethoven felt that ideas of mysterious and divine origin come tofruition when given voice in
the "electric" language of music, and ElectricEarth Concerts honors his idea that music is
fertile ground for the spirit. Atthe heart of the organization is a desire to make music in an
environment aliveand open to creative discovery for both performer and audience.
Please explain Electric Earth Concerts commitment to the arts in the Monadnock
Region.
When we started EEC our supporters told us therewas a need for more concerts of the
quality we give throughout the year - notjust in the summertime. So we bring music even in
the winter, fall, and spring.It’s a year-round festival that reaches its peak in the summer when
we tend todo our most ambitious projects. There is no reason that 'New Hampshirites'
shouldlook to Boston or New York to find vital, original musical events. We see ourhome in
the Monadnock region as a place for unique things to happen. Over theyears we’ve put on
many such events; there was an evening of Thoreau-inspiredmusic that included a photo
essay on Thoreau’s New England haunts by a localphotographer; we invited a wonderful
scholar from England to speak about17th-century English culture as a backdrop to a
performance by a consort ofviols; we asked a famous novelist to weave his tale about 20th-
century musicinto in an evening-long event centered on a 20th century
masterpiece.Collaborative events like these, which enlarge our concept of what a concertcan
be, are a part of our DNA. We also bring some of the best artists anywhereto perform in our
churches and meetinghouses, whether it’s a world premiere ora Beethoven String Quartet.
We believe there is no substituted for trueartistry, and when it’s there it transforms a merely
good concert intosomething that revives your faith in human possibility.
Is Electric Earth Concerts collaborative? How so? How does the organization
collaborate with artists and arts-related organizations?
We are always looking for ways to collaborate-whether artistically, as I have just mentioned,
or as a way to reach more anddifferent people. The Monadnock Center for History and
Culture is a place wehave often worked with to put on events - as part of Peak into
Peterborough, forexample. We also played a concert for the opening of an exhibit of
localartists at the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene. And we haveperformed
often for schools in Keene, Dublin, and Jaffrey.
What is the organization's vision for the arts in the Monadnock Region and
What is the organization's vision for the arts in the Monadnock Region and
thesurrounding regions? And, NH for that matter?! How will you work to makethat
happen?
The Monadnock region has more than its share ofartist living among us. It’s fertile ground
for what we do, and a great placeto work. Our musicians love coming here to perform
because they know that theaudience is getting what they do. Our only regret is knowing that
there arefolks who, if they had known about our concert, might have been able to shareit.
Every time a new face walks into our concert we feel we have won a smallvictory; usually
those folks come back again after discovering the power ofgreat music and great music-
making, compared to other ways they might spend anevening. Luckily, coming out to an EEC
event is easy and relativelyinexpensive - free, in fact for students. Our vision is really quite
simple. Wedo what we do because we know it can make a difference in the lives of allsorts
of different people. They just have to be open to it.
For more information on EEC and for details on their NEA Grant Award, please visit their
website or like them on Facebook.