Green
Recovery

At New Note Orchestra, we believe in the power of music to inspire change, foster community and support recovery from addiction. These principles underpinned Green Recovery, a unique and thought-provoking project focussing on the climate emergency.

Inspired by the recovery journeys of our orchestra members, Green Recovery was an hour long performance exploring themes of cultivating hope and building resilience within the context of climate change through specially composed music, spoken word and recorded sound bites.

Recovery from addiction involves making sometimes difficult choices, hard work and the support of a community. Green Recovery explored the idea that responding to the climate crisis demands the same resilience, hope and willingness to change. Creating and performing this piece of work allowed our musicians to explore these connections, and opened up conversations about how the lessons of recovery can offer fresh perspectives on tackling the climate crisis.

Our first Green Recovery performance was streamed online in collaboration with The Thursday Night Show, a recovery-focused radio station. The performance reached nearly 5,000 viewers on Facebook, sparking conversations around the world about music, recovery and climate action. This was followed by live performances to sell out crowds in Brighton, collaborating with our friends Jam Tarts Choir and Wham Jam Thank You Ma’am, and also in Crawley. 

We also had the opportunity to share this work with the wider recovery community when we performed an excerpt at the Addiction Recovery Art Network conference at the University of West London, and then again when we collaborated with Not Saints, a record label supporting artists in recovery. Working with Not Saints also led to two new members joining New Note Orchestra, underscoring the importance of community in recovery. 

Poetry performed as part of Green Recovery was written by our performers, each with a different theme. Written by Deli, this poem is about the positive impact of volunteering:

 

Let in begin with me

My father warned me never volunteer

And that a volunteer is worth ten pressed men

Typically contradictory

The family dis-ease 

An alcoholic’s legacy

as deep and unknown

As the drumbeat gift we share

 

Pressed, oppressed and repressed

Who knew the joy of service

He said

‘No other bugger was going to help’

And he was right and

always the first to lend a hand or a lift

 

So much can’t be done because no one will pay

So let me offer time, my energy and my commitment

 

Enraged by oligarch’s houses where space is hoarded just to deny others

Sick of kleptocrats using my river as a sewer and my sky as a battleground

But If I live and tend my ground, do I need to look at yours?

 

Green spaces host life as fleeting as a whispered promise

each tiny patch of earth a vital fragment of a greater work

I’ll sweep my side of the street and dig my garden

One flower

one pond for bees, butterflies, foxes and birds

Do you need my help? 

All actions count

small victories lead to bigger ones

Let it begin with me

And I will bloom along with those flowers

Watered with faith

A crop of joy

 

I don’t want payment for these essential treasures

I freely share all things shared freely with me

That’s the essence of recovery? 

Happy, joyous and free

I’m willing for my time to benefit you!     

Let it begin with me

 

Better to heal and take up tools

And make my small but loving mark on the mother planet

I’ll put my hand in this small pond and hope the ripple saves the seas.