Fiddler and vocalist Christine Delphine Hedden, a mainstay of Greater Boston’s Irish/Celtic music scene, will debut an original composition on Sunday, June 1, at “Songs for the Earth,” a benefit for Mass Audubon. The event – which utilizes the arts to raise awareness of the need for a sustainable future – will take place at the South Shore Conservatory in Hingham

Hedden’s piece will feature collaborative and solo performances by area musicians including Lindsay Straw (vocals), Katie Knudsvig (fiddle/violin), Kat Wallace (fiddle/violin), Corley Friesen-Johnson (viola), Ariel Friedman (cello), and Annick Odom (bass). 

The program will begin at 2:30 p.m. with educational activities including a nature-themed craft for families, a reading of “The Tide Is Rising, So Are We!” by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, and a presentation about sustainability and chocolate by Dr. Lori (“Dr. Chocolate”) Shapiro of Suenõs Cacao, a collaborative project to connect small, independent organic producers growing heirloom cacao varieties in Ecuador to consumers in the United States. 

Following the concert, which runs from 4-5 p.m., there will be a market of local music by the artists, chocolates by Suenõs Cacao, and books from Plymouth’s Book Love.

Hedden, who moved to Boston about 10 years ago, has performed locally at Club Passim, The Burren Backroom, BCMFest, and Somerville’s Arts at the Armory, among others, and is a regular at The Druid and other area sessions. In 2019, she released her first album, “Where the Aster Blooms,” which includes tunes from the Irish tradition as well as from renowned Irish fiddlers like Tommy Peoples and Vincent Broderick, and her own compositions – many of which (“The Firefly,” “Rainwater’s,” “Kellogg Street Peaches”) reflect her longstanding interest in and fascination for the natural world. 

The roots of her “Songs of the Earth” project began two years ago, when Hedden was invited to be a fellow of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy's Composing Earth initiative, through which cohorts of young professional composers intensively study a suite of environmental crises together and then write their own new music drawing upon this knowledge. She and the other fellows read books, articles, listened to podcasts, watched documentaries and other videos, and met with physicist Rob Davies. They also wrote weekly "musings" to each other via email, reflecting on our experiences along the way.

“For my very first musings, I wrote about the loss of winter in New England and in my very last musing, I found myself reflecting on the same idea,” recalls Hedden. “So, I knew that this was what I needed to write about in my piece for ‘Composing Earth.’

“I also knew that I wanted to write for friend and folksinger, Lindsay Straw. So, Gabriela suggested that I find my own musicians and organize a concert out here on the East Coast.”

Taking on the role of organizer/composer isn’t entirely new for Hedden: She and multi-instrumentalistCaoimhín Ó Fearghail put together a set for BCMFest comprising tunes and songs related to the ocean. In the past, she has written music for performances based around stories with dance, tunes, songs and spoken poetry. These projects, like “Composing Earth,” also entailed bringing together Irish traditional and classical musicians to play together.

Hedden’s “Composing Earth” piece, "Solstice," is written for solo folksinger and string quintet. “Every reference is a real place or experience of winter in New England. I was writing words and music for almost 18 months, but I had been thinking about the melody for another six months beforehand.”

In bringing together Irish traditional and classical musicians, Hedden says she felt strongly that it was important “to let both kinds of musicians be their natural selves. For this piece, I wrote an air that could be taken away and on its own, be sung like a traditional song. Lindsay has the freedom to add her own ornamentation and interpretation to the melody, which is vital to what it means to be a traditional musician. Meanwhile, the classical string players have very intricate and detailed lines, which is one of the strengths of writing for classical musicians. I can imagine the interplay of sounds in the natural world, like birdsongs, and they have the capacity to bring those highly prescribed details to life.

“Crafting music to tell a story is at the heart of how we as musicians can contribute to environmental action. In every generation, the artists are the storytellers, reflecting back the values of that time. Now, we need to write new stories for our generation to pass on, along with the old ones that hold true.”

For tickets and information about “Songs for the Earth,” go to https://tinyurl.com/4er2mufd

—SEAN SMITH