Saratoga Performing Arts Center Hosts HERE ON EARTH in Honor of Earth Day

Saratoga Performing Arts Center has announced that in honor of Earth Day, it will present Here on Earth with trailblazing pianist, speaker and activist Lara Downes and celebrated chamber ensemble Miró Quartet. Slated for April 21 at 3 p.m. at the Spa Little Theater, the special project was developed at SPAC and is presented in partnership with the Skidmore College Department of Music.

“Bringing this important project, which was incubated in our very own Park, is part of our commitment to providing experiences of wonder and awe in our community year round,” says Elizabeth Sobol, SPAC’s President & CEO. “We are proud to support and commission the creation of new works by these artists who harness their talents to make the world a better place.”

An artistic collaboration between Lara Downes and Miró Quartet, Here On Earth was created at SPAC in the summer of 2023. The program features musical depictions of our planet earth, its evolution, and the lives of its inhabitants, expressed through music. The afternoon will span centuries, from Haydn’s Sunrise Quartet to Darius Milhaud’s La Création du Monde (composed in 1923) and Clarice Assad’s A World Of Change, newly commissioned in 2023. Traveling through time and space, the program telescopes in to celebrate the beauties of the natural world, while also exploring our evolving relationship with our ever-changing planet.   

Lara Downes’ dynamic work as a sought-after performer and arts advocate positions her as a cultural visionary on the national arts scene. Downes also hosts “AMPLIFY,” an NPR video series that features intimate conversations between BIPOC artists who are shaping the identity of a new era with bold vision, powerful mission and the inspiring energy of a transformative time. Honored as 2022 Classical Woman of the Year by Performance Today, she has been called “a musical ray of hope” by NBC News and “an explorer whose imagination is fired by bringing notice to the underrepresented and forgotten” (The Log Journal). 

“In this age of extreme climate crisis, the magic and majesty of the natural world move me more profoundly than ever before. As we face the consequences of what our human race has brought upon our home planet, we realize the urgency of even the smallest actions, from each of us according to our abilities. So as I reduce and reuse and recycle, I also reflect and respond as an artist,” says Lara Downes.

She adds, “I'm connected to my fellow musicians collaborating on this project, but also to the many generations of musicians before us who have expressed their wonder at the beauties of the earth, the sky, the oceans, and all the creatures that inhabit them. We're happy to bring you this wonderful music, so deeply rooted in our love and gratitude for our planet Earth.”

Returning to SPAC alongside Downes for this collaboration is Miró Quartet, following their 2024 GRAMMY nomination for their new release “House of Belonging.” Miró Quartet is one of America’s most celebrated and dedicated string quartets, having been labeled by The New Yorker as “furiously committed” and noted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for its “exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity.” 

In addition to the performance on April 21, Lara Downes and the Miró Quartet will teach, coach, and perform alongside Skidmore College students as part of the annual String Festival, culminating in a free public concert on Saturday, April 20. Click here for details.

Tickets for Here on Earth cost $38-$68 and will be available beginning on February 28 at 10 a.m. for members (tiered by level) and on March 1 at 10 a.m. for the general public. Visit spac.org for details.