Professor Premieres Climate Change Concert

PARAMUS, N.J. – Bergen Community College music professor and environmental activist Dan Sheehan will debut his latest immersive concert experience, “The Seas Are Rising: Stories of a Climate in Crisis,” as part of the College’s April observation of Earth Month.

The concert will take place on Thursday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre at the institution’s main campus in Paramus at 400 Paramus Road.

Co-sponsored by the New Jersey Sierra Club - North Jersey Group, the performance features songs written by Sheehan that highlight the existential threat of climate change and other environmental challenges, focusing on the need for action. Topics include the cascade of intensifying weather events such as Hurricane Maria, fires in the Amazon, droughts in Europe and climate-induced famine in Africa. Discussions of these issues and projections of lyrics and images depicting the stories in the songs will accompany the music. Attendees can purchase tickets for $15 – with discounts available for seniors, students and College faculty and staff - at tickets.bergen.edu. Proceeds will benefit the Sierra Club.

 “Too many people think that the planet can wait, that climate change is a far-off concern,” Sheehan said. “Too many people are too distracted by their daily challenges to focus on the needs of the environment. This concert experience is designed to bring to light the fact that climate change is already causing substantial devastation in the world which will only worsen unless we act now.”

Sheehan has released multiple albums that target social consciousness, including his latest, “Tales from Earth Incorporated, which spotlighted the effects of economic injustice. His work has received airplay in regions across the country and around the world, including Manchester, England. Sheehan has taught at Bergen since 2007.

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

Photo Caption: Professor Dan Sheehan.