Join Stony Brook University to celebrate the end of Climate Week 2026 with a concert, panel, and reception at LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island.

Free and Open to All | September 25, 6:15pm- 9:15pm | RSVP

Concert | Songs of the Earth

The New York City premiere of this original composition by Eugene Drucker. The piece will be performed by Eugene Drucker and Friends: Roberta Cooper, Eugene Drucker, Kevonna Shuford, Susannah Woodruff

Songs of the Earth is a group of seven musical settings of poetry by the visionary Denise Levertov (1923-97). The themes of the texts revolve around the poet’s passionate concern for the environment, her close observation of physical phenomena — especially water — and her stark appraisal of humankind’s place in the natural and spiritual order of things. The “Songs” are set for mezzo-soprano and different combinations of stringed instruments; through tone painting and an effort to render the rhythms and pitch contours of the verse, Eugene Drucker has created music that varies in mood from serenely contemplative to mournful and violent. Levertov was a political and environmental activist, as well as a deeply religious person; the composer hopes that this small sampling of her work will convey some idea of the range and depth of her contribution to our cultural life.

Panel | “Our Health, Our Climate, Our World”

A roundtable discussion moderatedby David Wrobel, Dean of SBU’s College of Arts and Sciences and featuring a panel of environmental and climate academics. The panel will include:

• • Karen Ingram, NYC Artist
  • Ann Kurth, President, New York Academy of Medicine
  • Sohl Lee, Associate Professor, Dept. of Art, Stony Brook University
  • Anais Reyes, Deputy Director, The Climate Museum
  • Sasha Pesci, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geology, Environment, & Sustainability, Hofstra University
  • Stephanie Wade, Lecturer, Dept. of Writing & Rhetoric, Stony Brook University

Reception | with light snacks and refreshments

The night caps off ends with a light reception, including remarks from David Wrobel, and Moe Yousuf, LMCC’s CEO & Artistic Director.

This evening is presented by Stony Brook University and LMCC

About the participants

Roberta Cooper (Musician), has been a member of the American Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Berkshire Bach Society, and has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she performs chamber music at music festivals all over the world. Roberta has also performed and recorded with many pop artists including Billy Joel, Linda Ronstadt, Sting, kd lang, and Aretha Franklin. She was a winner of the Artists International Competition which sponsored her Carnegie Hall debut recital to wide acclaim.

Eugene Drucker (Composer and Musician) is a founding member of the multiple Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, is also a soloist, author and composer, and a faculty member at Stony Brook University. His first novel, The Savior, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2007 and later appeared in a German translation called Wintersonate. He has created musical settings of poetry by Shakespeare, Denise Levertov, and Emma Lazarus for voice and strings. A faculty member at Stony Brook University since 2002, Mr. Drucker is also currently the Artistic Director of the Berkshire Bach Society.

Karen Ingram (Panelist) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose work traverses bioart, biodesign, and biotechnology, using genetically modified yeast, bacteria, and adapted COVID testing robots to interrogate agency and multi-entity collaboration between human, robot, and microbe. She is an exhibiting artist and artist-in-residence at BioBAT Art Space and a 2026-27 Exhibition Fellow at the McColl Center, and in 2025 she founded the BioArt Studio at Makerspace Charlotte. For this panel, Karen will speak to how bioart’s multi-entity synergies offer a model for rethinking the entangled systems that shape both human health and planetary climate.

Dr. Ann Kurth (Panelist), epidemiologist, nurse-midwife, and president/CEO of New York Academy of Medicine, believes in the power of science to support the health of people, populations, and the planet. Her work has focused on HIV, reproductive health, and health system strengthening. An elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine, Ann is currently working on a book about climate-resilient health systems. She will talk about the benefits of taking action on climate and health, and the ways we can all contribute to more resilient health systems and communities.

Sohl Lee (Panelist) is Associate Professor of Art History at Stony Brook University, an educator, avid cook, and cultural historian. Her current research project, “Seaweed as Method,”  explores the cultural and ecological histories of seaweed across coastal communities, asking how art, foodways, Indigenous knowledge, and marine science offer different ways of understanding our relationships with changing oceans. She will discuss miyeokguk, the Korean seaweed soup traditionally eaten after childbirth and on birthdays, as a starting point for thinking about how food carries ideas of health, care, and cultural memory across generations—and how culinary traditions travel, adapt, and connect us to coastal environments.

Sasha Pesci (Panelist) is Assistant Professor of Sustainability Studies at Hofstra University, where her teaching and research focus on sustainable agriculture and food systems. Her work centers on food justice and is driven by the idea that everyone should have access to healthy food. Recent projects include research on composting in Queens, NY, research on food access challenges in Roosevelt, NY, and the establishment of a community garden on Hofstra’s campus. During the panel, she will discuss the value of using community-engaged research methods to ensure that research not only serves academic purposes but also creates real benefits for community partners.

Anais Reyes (Panelist) is the Deputy Director at the Climate Museum, whose programs combine art, learning, and action to help people feel empowered in the face of climate change. She has collaborated on interdisciplinary programs and presentations with Brooklyn Botanic Garden, LaGuardia Community College, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and many more. Anais will discuss the importance of arts and culture as a critical tool for building community, inspiring collective action, and bringing about climate transformation at the scale we need. 

Kevonna Shuford (Musician) is a vibrant violist who has a passion for collaborative projects. She has collaborated with ensembles such as Boston Philharmonic, Erie Philharmonic, Atlantic Symphony and Palaver Strings. Other collaborative efforts have led her to be an artist at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, Encore Chamber Music Program and the Meadowmount School of Music. She has played with artists such as Clive Greensmith, Janine Jansen, Yura Lee, Tai Murray, Anton Nel, Philip Setzer, and Paul Watkins.

Stephanie Wade (Panelist) studies ecology and permaculture to develop teaching and research projects that center food justice and community writing. Currently a lecturer in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University, formerly she served as director of writing and general education at Unity College and assistant director of writing at Bates College, where her work garnered the Martinson Award for Innovation for the writing program. She will be discussing community gardening projects that allow participants engage in the cultural and material work that is necessary to build better futures.

Susannah Woodruff (Musician) New York-based mezzo-soprano Susannah Woodruff is a versatile performer with a diverse repertoire, ranging from baroque zarzuela to contemporary electro-chamber opera. Highlighted performances include engagements with The Dallas Opera, Berkshire Symphony, Opera Arlington, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris Ensemble, Orchestra of New Spain, ensemblenewSRQ, Market Square Concerts, and Miami Music Festival. Her debut album Turning Into Song: A Celebration of American Composers was released in 2023 by Musica Solis.

David Wrobel (Moderator) is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University and a Professor in the Department of History. He is deeply committed to Stony Brook’s social mobility mission for students and to supporting faculty research and creative activity across the college’s 27 departments that range from the Fine Arts and Humanities, to the Social and Behavioral, and Natural and Physical Sciences. A historian of the American West, David is currently working on a book on the writer John Steinbeck and the struggle to preserve democracy.