The Rachel Carson Council wants to share with you, as part of our celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (1970-2020), a special link to inspiring choral music by composer Keith Siegfried and performed by the Capitol Hill Chorale. The text is drawn from Rachel Carson’s small book, The Sense of Wonder, published posthumously in 1965, which she hoped would inspire adults to share with children an instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring in nature.

The Chorale would have performed this beautiful piece as part of the flagship 50th Earth Day event on the National Mall this weekend. Like so many things this year with the coronavirus crisis, that opportunity disappeared.

The RCC hopes, instead, that you and your family and friends can take both solace and joy from this wondrous performance by The Capitol Hill Chorale. The short video version with its lovely music, Rachel Carson text, and gorgeous film of nature, dawn and starry night skies resulted from a March 2019 concert and a partnership between the Chorale and the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) to draw attention to its efforts to reclaim that beautiful and vital waterway.

We hope, even in a time of isolation, that you have the chance to get outside, look up at the sky, feel the wind and rain, and marvel in that sense of wonder. And please feel free to share this special link with friends, family, neighbors and colleagues whom you think might benefit from it in this difficult time.

Warm regards,

Bob Musil
President & CEO