Writer/ Editor

Biography

US citizen. Published author, musician and activist of South Asian, Italian and Quebecois ancestry. Founder and Director of Music & the Earth, an international education enterprise which promotes environmental awareness among youth through world music. Educated at Brown University; work experience at institutions such as the Smithsonian and the Red Cross; and leadership experience as a multicultural arts organizer and global climate activist. Based in Washington, DC and San Juan, Puerto Rico; pastimes include reading, dancing, and enjoying chai— preferably in small, laidback cafés.

Education

Brown University; Providence, RI – BA, 2013. GPA — 3.9 History (Concentration— Colonialism and Globalization) Music (Singer with the Applied Music Program)

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; London, UK MSc in Climate Change and Development— in process. University of Oxford; Oxford, UK — Graduate coursework, 2014 School of Geography and the Environment— Nature, Society & Environmental Policy American University; Washington, DC — MA coursework, 2014. GPA — 4.0 School of International Service — Global Environmental Politics MOOCs from Berklee College of Music, Wharton School (U of Pennsylvania), and the University of Maryland (2018) Valedictorian, Baldwin School of Puerto Rico, 2008; SAT— 2330 (99th percentile) Work Experience

Music & the Earth International; Washington, DC — 2016-Present

• Position— Founder and Director

• Job Description— Leads this environmental education initiative by fostering a global network of contributors

(musicians, scholars and activists); undertaking research, writing, musical projects, podcasts, discussion forums, and conference sessions which promote climate change awareness through music; and curating a multimedia website which conveys this work to a public audience

• Selected Projects—

• The Island Sessions — A community forum in San Juan, Puerto Rico which utilizes music from the world’s islands (i.e. Pacific, Indian, Arctic Oceans; Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas) to foster rigorous, practical and vibrant discussions about issues pertaining to climate change (ongoing) Priya Parrotta Founder/Director of Music & the Earth International *****.********@*****.*** +1-787-***-****

• Itinerarios Sonoros — a podcast series on sound, music, and the environment in the Caribbean; produced in collaboration with Radio San Juan and awarded a grant from the Puerto Rican Foundation for the Humanities

(2018-19)

• Conciencias Sonoras — an interdisciplinary symposium on music in the aftermath of Hurricane María, feat. local and international musicians, researchers and activists; organized in collaboration with the Instituto de Investigación Musical de Puerto Rico y del Caribe at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico (2018)

• Callejón Sangeet — a concert of original, environment-inspired arrangements of devotional, semi-classical and popular South Asian songs; the first of a series of concerts which showcase the environmental (under)currents of musical traditions around the world (2018)

• Invited lectures on music, coexistence, and climate change at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico

(2017-18)

• Further details available at musicandtheearth.org. Freelance Language Editor; Washington, DC — 2016-Present

• Johann, E. 125 Years of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). Priya Parrotta, editor. Vienna: IUFRO, 2017.

• Teplyakov, V.K. and Shalaev, V.K. A History of IUFRO Congresses, Forest Research and Russia’s Participation. Translation of 2nd Russian edition. John A. Parrotta and Priya Parrotta, editors. Moscow: 2017. 590 pp. The Sanctuaries; Washington, DC — 2015-16

Founding Leader: Coordinated opportunities for aspiring musicians to record and perform throughout the city; co- designed a training program for emerging community leaders to integrate the arts into their activism U.S. Forest Service, International Programs; Washington, DC— 2014 Communications Expert: developed and implemented a comprehensive communications strategy for SilvaCarbon American Red Cross, Disaster Services; Washington, DC – 2013 Research Assistant: Conducted a study of the quality of psychosocial support services within the institution Smithsonian Institution, Asia Pacific American Program; Washington, DC — 2010 Curatorial Assistant: completed the first round of historical research for Beyond Bollywood Internships at Green America (2013); Organization of American States, Cultural Affairs (2010); Washington National Opera, Education Department (2009); in Washington, DC Publications

Books

• Parrotta, Priya. The Politics of Coexistence in the Atlantic World: The Greater Caribbean. Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016.

• Parrotta, Priya. Heartbeat: Climate Change, Resilience and World Music. Manuscript in preparation, 2019. Chapters

• “Costas: A Tale of Two Cafés” in Dannabang Kuwabong, ed. Mothers and Daughters. Toronto: Demeter Press, 2017.

• ‘Promised Land: Quilombismo, the ‘Quilombo Clause,’ and the Politics of Recognition in Contemporary Brazil’ in Nicholas Faraclas, ed. Anansi’s Defiant Webs. Amsterdam: 2011. Reprinted in the Brown Journal of History, 2012.

• Review of Nelson Maldonado Torres, Against War: Views from the Underside of Modernity in Sargasso: A Journal of Caribbean Literature, Language, and Culture, 2013.

• “Fugas y Fronteras: The Politics of Inclusion in San Mateo de Cangrejos, A Fugitive Settlement of Afro- Caribbean Slaves in Puerto Rico” in Nicholas Faraclas et al, eds. Transcultural Roots Uprising. Amsterdam: 2013. Articles

Acta Científica, a multidisciplinary journal for work in physics, biochemistry, ecology, botany, meteorology, medical sciences, mathematics and psychology

"From Forests to the Public Sphere: Promoting Awareness by Expanding Concern." Forthcoming. New Music Box, a publication from New Music USA

• “Listening in a Time of Climate Change.” 2017. http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/listening-in-a-time-of- climate-change/

• “Ecological Wisdom, Living Soundscapes.” 2017. http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/ecological-wisdom-living- soundscapes/

• “Composing Interdependence: Songs Along the Nile.” 2017. http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/composing- interdependence-songs-along-the-nile/

• “Music and (Social/Cultural) Resilience.” 2017. http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/music-and-socialcultural- resilience/

Media Diversified, a platform for critically-informed perspectives on contemporary media

• “Music Across Pipelines: Songs from Standing Rock.” 2017. https://mediadiversified.org/2017/05/08/music-across- pipelines-songs-from-standing-rock/.

Q.E.D., an Oxford-based publication which reimagines the learning and teaching of mathematics

• “Men Who Doubt Infinity.” 2017. https://medium.com/q-e-d/men-who-doubt-infinity-744ecc3b97ea Faith Initiative, a print publication dedicated to global, interfaith understanding and peace.

• “Listening to Huracán María.” 2018. Available online at: http://faithinitiative.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ Faith-Initiative-Issue-37-PDF-for-Web-14.5.18.pdf

• “Om: The First Sound.” 2017. Available online here: https://hafsite.org/blog/the-sounds-of-the-waves-the-sounds-of- the-breath-the-sound-of-om/

Art & Soul, the online publication of The Sanctuaries, a multi faith arts community in Washington, DC

• “Supporting Diversity in Times of Hate.” https://medium.com/@sanctuariesdc/supporting-diversity-in-times-of- hate-39d02d2315a

• “The Humor of Multiculturalism.” https://medium.com/art-and-soul/the-humor-of-multiculturalism-bb3a83b5fd19 Repeating Islands, a website for news and commentary of Caribbean culture, literature and the arts

• “Decolonizing Music: A Musical Congress of the Americas.” https://repeatingislands.com/2016/11/25/decolonizing- music-musical-congress-of-the-americas/

• “A Hindu Puerto Rican’s Reflection on the Emerging Leaders Multifaith Climate Convergence in Rome.” 2015. https://repeatingislands.com/2015/09/09/priya-parrotta-natarajan-on-the-emerging-leaders-multi-faith-climate- convergence/

Voices Across Borders, a website based at the Oxford Centre for Research in the Humanities

• “Cosmopolitanism as creative resistance in San Juan, Puerto Rico.” 2015. http://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/ cosmopolitanism-creative-resistance-san-juan-puerto-rico

• “Cultural heritage in Washington, DC.” 2015. http://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/cultural-heritage-northwest-washington-dc Blogs

• Nature in Style, a collection of essays on the relationship between the environment and contemporary style trends. 2017. https://medium.com/nature-in-style

• Music & the Earth, an ongoing blog focused on travel, world music, and the art of listening. https://medium.com/ music-the-earth-international

Honors & Awards

• Invited and sponsored to attend the Emerging Leaders Multifaith Climate Convergence in Rome, Italy, which brought together 120 youth leaders from 40 countries to discuss the future of interfaith climate activism (2015)

• Featured as an Outstanding Millennial and role model for young women in Brightest Young Things— https:// brightestyoungthings.com/articles/womens-history-month-priya-parrotta-natarajan. Skills

Languages — Spanish (native/bilingual fluency), Italian (intermediate), French (basic), Hindi (basic); Web and Graphic Design; Translation; Writing and Editing (see above) Presentations

Conferences

• XXV World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil (2019)

• Invited Co-Organizer of the Technical Session on Arts, Science and Education

• Presentation Title: “From Forests to the Public Sphere— Promoting Awareness and Expanding Concern through Music”

• 43rd Annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference in Santa Marta, Colombia (2019)

• Presentation 1: "Itinerarios Sonoros: El Caribe de cerca y de lejos"

• Presentation 2: "Promised Land: Quilombismo, the 'Quilombo Clause,' and the Politics of Recognition in Contemporary Brazil"

• "'Where the Light Enters You:' Nature, Culture & the Ghazal in the Greater Caribbean" at Puentes Caribeños: Art Music in the Caribbean, el 5to Simposio de Investigación Musical en el Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico

(2019)

• Conciencias Sonoras: Música, Sonido y el Medio Ambiente, el 4to Simposio de Investigación Musical en el Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (2018)

• Developed the core concept and design of the conference; also played an active role in its organization

• Presentation title: “Soundwaves: Political and Musical Exchange between Students and Activists in the Caribbean and Pacific Islands.”

• “Activism and Multicultural Arts.” Invited panelist at Activismo, Música, y Carnaval, a forum at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico (2016)

• “Silence as an Act of Discipline and Domination; Silence as an Act of Linguistic Sovereignty and Subsistence” at Talk and Silence: Language in Colonial Contexts, a conference in Cairo, Egypt; with Drs. Nick Faraclas and Don Walicek (2018)

• “Music and the Earth” at Descolonizando la Música, a Latin American regional conference organized by UNESCO’s International Music Council in San Juan, Puerto Rico (2016)

• “The Politics of Inclusion in San Mateo de Cangrejos” at the Caribbean Studies Association Annual Conference in Mérida, México (2014)

• “The Music of Changing Rivers: Bhatiali Folk Music and the Impacts of Climate Change in Coastal Bangladesh” at the 2nd

Symposium of the International Council for Traditional Music Study Group on Audiovisual Ethnomusicology in Lisbon, Portugal; awarded a partial support grant from the National Coalition of Independent Scholars; accepted but unable to attend for financial reasons (2018)

• “Del Pacífico al Caribe: Corrientes Sonoras, Música Popular, y Educación Ambiental ‘Isleña’” at the XIII Congress of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music—América Latina at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico; invited but unable to attend for financial reasons (2018) Invited Lectures and Talks

• Book talk: The Politics of Coexistence in the Atlantic World (Cambridge Scholars, 2016) at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Facultad de Humanidades (2018)

• Invited panelist at a special anniversary conference titled 30:75:100 — The Stoichiometry of Research, Education and Conservation in Puerto Rico; other panelists included leaders in diverse sectors, primarily in the natural sciences and conservation education (2018)

• “Música, el medio ambiente y las músicas afro-brasileñas.” Guest lecturer at a seminar named “Estudio e investigación de la música latinoamericana” at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (2018)

• “Music, Decoloniality and Global Climate Politics.” Guest lecturer at a graduate seminar in linguistics at the University of Puerto Rico (2017)

• “Música, tierra y coexistencia.” Guest lecturer at a graduate seminar in ethnomusicology at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (2017)

Music

Education

• Singer with the Applied Music Program, a selective pre-professional program for performing artists at Brown University (2009-2011)

• Voice student with internationally acclaimed opera singer Margarita Castro Alberty (2005-2008) Positions

• Artist-in-Residence at DanzActiva, San Juan, Puerto Rico's premier school and theater for flamenco and classical South Asian music and dance (since 2017)

Music & the Earth Concerts

• Melodías de Primavera, a concert to celebrate the Indian springtime festival of Holi, featuring original Latin/ international arrangements of Bollywood songs and Sufi ghazals -- San Juan, Puerto Rico (2019)

• Callejón Sangeet, a celebration of the environment in the devotional, semi-classical and popular music of India — San Juan, Puerto Rico (2018)

Invited Performances

• Featured Musician/Environmentalist at Boston GreenFest—Boston, MA, USA (2018)

• Featured Artist at Crescent Moon Nights—Sankofa Books & Café, Washington, DC (2016, 2017)

• Featured Musician at An Evening of Soulful Solidarity with Standing Rock—Arlington, VA, USA (2016)

• Invited singer at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Service—Bethesda, MD, USA (2016) Recordings & Videos

• SoundCloud channel (via Music & the Earth)— https://soundcloud.com/musicandtheearth/sets/music

• YouTube channel (via Music & the Earth)— https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJ014D4WZ-eslCEANQJfIQ

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