Miranda Loud

Interdisciplinary Artist Miranda Loud has been passionate about giving other species a voice through the power of art and film since she experienced a tipping point in 2005 and began to direct her creative work toward awakening empathy for other species. Prior to this, her multi-media theatrical concerts, using visuals, dance, and narration, had already been at the forefront of experimental classical concert programming. Produced in New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, these early experiments in live performance on environmental themes were hailed by the Boston Globe as a new genre; her recent work about the relationship between honeybees and beekeepers won a Gold Star Award in 2009 from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Miranda has followed her heart throughout her career, which has taken her from classically-trained organist with a Master’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music to a professional mezzo-soprano to producer and non-profit leader, and now to filmmaker and environmentalist. All of these seeds can be seen in her work since 1994 as she explored various themes integrating new media and more potent forms of expression.

Her recent work has garnered nationwide recognition. She was recently featured in “Can Art save the Planet?”, a San Francisco Chronicle online article about the new power of eco-artists. She was highlighted as one of the Innovative Women in Sustainability by the University of North Texas, and the keynote speaker in Social and Environmental Justice at the Dorothy Stang Center in Belmont, CA. An essay on Miranda’s work with the Park Dreams Project is in the pipeline for Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project website, written by Charles Siebert, a frequent New York Times contributor.

Her current projects for Naturestage are tied to her passionate belief that artistic expression fosters self-compassion, empathy, cooperation and the dignity essential for valuing life and creating global stewards. Naturestage’s current focus is gathering momentum – The One Language Project, an ongoing online catalogue of animal portraits and video stories of humans acting with compassion and acknowledging the common emotions they observe in individuals of other species. Another initiative, The Elephant Project, uses the Asian elephant as a gateway for examining the obligation towards other species through a curriculum that is arts-based and connects students across various countries with one another to problem-solve how humans can more compassionately relate with other species.

In order to increase understanding of human-caused species loss and the need to fully integrate the arts into education, Miranda is touring universities and high schools to share her perspectives with students who will be tomorrow’s leaders. Sharing interviews and samples of her work from Buccaneers of Buzz, The Elephant Project, and the One Language Project, she has created two powerful multi-media presentations: Saving the Elephants, Saving Themselves: Maybe Anthropomorphizing Is Good For Them; Singing Mice and Bees That Count – How the Stories They Share Can Heal the World.

In addition to her extensive performing and producing as a musician, Miranda has been interviewed for a number of blogs and newspapers, as well as on CBS Radio, about her passion for animals and ways that the arts can help create a sense of kinship with other species. Miranda’s greatest wish is to see this empathy expressed in human infrastructure, development, and relationship with the land, taking other species’ needs into account alongside the essential needs of people.