The Art of Belonging | Emergent Universe Oratorio
featured image | A still from the stage set of the Oratorio by Cameron Davis
The Emergent Universe Oratorio Project, through professional choral, orchestral, dramatic narrative performance, and visual set design, seeks to bring the integrative and transformative power of the story of our Universe’s origin, evolution, and the emergence of life, to the present planetary environmental and civilizational crisis.
The Oratorio’s libretto embodies this evocative story, envisioning human life-relationships across Earth, as one among many interdependent and inter-responsible species; and one that supports the flourishing of all threads within the Web of Life.
Since 2010 the core team, Sam & Paula Guarnaccia and Cameron Davis, has been engaged with writing the story of the universe inspired by the work of Thomas Berry, in consultation with Journey of the Universe authors and film producers Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, and Author Cosmologist Brian Swimme. The Oratorio was originally performed at the Breeding Barn at Shelburne Farms, Vermont, in 2013 with 12 large scale paintings by Davis. The Oratorio with paintings went on to be performed in Philadelphia, Cleveland and beyond.
During the pandemic, 2020-2022, the team, along with John Cimino updated the libretto to reflect the changing science and increasing social, ecological, and civilizational urgencies.
The Emergent Universe Oratorio will be performed again July 18th, 2025 at Skidmore College.
Kosmos: I wanted to ask Cami, what’s most alive for you at this political moment?
Cami: Well, I would say the question of the obvious—living with uncertainty, wondering about agency, wondering about whether, even though all is uncertain in an unraveling, chaotic system, can we seed, can we populate the chaos with more alignment with life going forward? That’s very alive for me, especially with the new administration, the fires and floods. Personally, I want to populate this time, seed this time, leaning ever more heavily into love, compassion, and gratitude, so that the unknown—that adjacent possible—becomes more inclined to be in alignment with life.
Kosmos: Cami, the themes of the Oratorio—where do they intersect with what’s happening today? Why is it so relevant in 2025?
Cami: The story of the universe is a story of belonging because it truly integrates humanity within that co-evolutionary story. We have evolved as much as everything else. It dissolves notions of separation, so that belonging is actually inherent in life.
Where my art intersects is that, if I were to describe what my work has been about for my entire life—for 40-plus years—it’s been circling my understanding of a felt presence in what I initially perceived as the natural world, something separate. Over these 40 years, in trying to discover my own definitions of what nature is, I now understand—especially through this project—that we humans are fully situated within the rest of this teeming life, this teeming intelligence of Earth, Gaia, and the cosmos.
So, in my work—specifically, I use plant patterns both in my paintings and in the stage set—to point towards this teeming intelligence. But I’ve also come to see that improvisation itself reveals life, in the sense of mutual relationships—ecosystems of relationships—that mutually transform one another. Borrowing from eco-philosopher Andreas Weber’s Biology of Wonder, I see improvisation as an expression of this relational aliveness.
Kosmos: Beautiful! Sam, what about the Oratorio? Does it also evolve, like the universe it reveals?
Sam: Well, yes, in the obvious sense that we change every day. So absolutely, our relationship to anything is an evolving, fluid, and energetic process.
In a more concrete sense, at some point, one has to say, this is the score. But when you hand over a score, that’s one of the wonders of music—only so much can be written down. And that’s true of a good screenplay or any form of artistic creation. We all know that in movies, good actors often improvise, and those moments actually improve the piece.
So, the performance itself remains open. It’s open to the future, and even to the past. The way people interpret musical symbols—the way musicians, singers, and conductors translate what’s encoded into sound—is constantly evolving. It changes with the individual performer, with the ensemble, and with whatever is going on in the world around them.
There is so much fluidity, so much mutually created energy and emergence in this. That’s one of the wonders of the universe’s big story—that everything, from the vastness of space-time to the subatomic level, is interconnected.
I remember something Duane Elgin pointed out: when people say, I feel so small when I look up at the sky and think of the universe, it’s so big, we’re so insignificant—he countered that, in terms of scale, it’s actually further from our human size down to the quark than it is from our human scale to the edge of the observable universe. So, in that sense, we are actually on the bigger side of the scale of existence. That’s pretty stunning.
Kosmos: That’s amazing. Let me ask you this, Sam—where do we think music comes from?
Sam: Oh, wow. For me, composing comes from contemplation, from experience, from reading, from feeling. If I’m setting a text, it’s about what that text brings up inside me—what sounds and harmonies relate to that. But I’m not sure that really answers the question. It’s such a wonderful question, and I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it so simply.
Kosmos: Things like chords and tones, vibration itself— “the music of the spheres”, is that already there? If we are Mozart, are we channeling it? We often think about the universe in terms of physical matter. But what about the more harmonic, vibrational nature of the universe?
Sam: Well, the physics of it is helpful. You can spend a lot of time studying the harmonic sequence, which tells us that any tone contains within it all the possible notes we could hear. It’s similar to colors. If you’ve ever looked up a color in a really good dictionary—something like mauve or cerise—you’ll find a whole paragraph trying to define it. It’s that complex.
Rupert Sheldrake has something interesting to say about it. He doesn’t like using the term laws of the universe because, as he puts it, there’s nobody out there making rules. Instead, he suggests that the universe is governed by what has worked well over time.
What seems to work well at a fundamental level is a balance—just enough structure, but also plenty of room for change and adaptation. The sun, for example, is just about to explode, and at the same time, it’s just about to collapse. But the harmony of physics keeps it balanced on that knife edge.
We exist in a similar space—right on the edge of chaos. Life itself is an extremely complex process that requires having as much openness as possible before reaching the point of collapse.
Harmony, in music and in physics, reflects that. Everything in the universe is moving—right down to the quark level. I’m not necessarily referring to string theory, but rather to the idea that everything vibrates.
When we hear musical harmonies that resonate with us emotionally—whether spiritually, culturally, or sensually—it’s because they reflect that fundamental principle: the universe is constantly experimenting. Millions of micro-experiments happen at every moment, and the ones that work persist and evolve.
So, harmony, in a way, is the universe continually finding and settling into what works best.
Kosmos: Can you expand on how this intuitive process shaped the composition of the Emergent Universe Oratorio? Did certain themes, melodies, or harmonies “suggest themselves” in response to the ideas and philosophy behind the project?
Sam: Absolutely. The music of EUO arose from a deep contemplation of the text, the scientific narrative, and the sheer awe I feel for the living cosmos. I’ve often found that melodies, harmonies, and rhythms don’t come through force but through listening—through being present with the ideas and allowing them to manifest as sound. There’s a concept that has always resonated with me: The experience of unsullied order persisting simultaneously at every perceptual level—may be taken as a working definition of beauty. That’s very much how I see music in this project.
There was a balance between allowing music to arise and then shaping it with technique and structure. It was important that the music not just “accompany” the libretto but embody the emergent nature of the universe itself—expanding, evolving, deepening in complexity. It’s a living soundscape, an artistic expression of the story of cosmogenesis, mirroring the universe’s own unfolding.
The Emergent Universe Oratorio is a musical and poetic composition for chorus, orchestra, and orator, of the Great Story of our vast evolving Universe, the new scientific cosmology of our cosmic birth, to galaxies, stars, Earth, life, of human emergence and transformation. It is a response to the greatest crisis in the history of humanity, and if we can respond as one thread in the tapestry of living Earth, it is also its greatest opportunity. It emerged from the realization that the most viable path to a thriving future for Earth, humanity, and all living beings—is a new and visionary understanding, a new framework for deeply knowing who, what, and where we are— integral with all matter and life—with both the power and responsibility to transform ourselves to become a life supporting presence within the whole Earth community.
Kosmos: Paula, the EUO is described not just as a musical work but as a project—one that extends beyond the performance itself. Can you talk about why it is framed this way and what this means for its impact going forward?
Paula: The most important thing is for people to understand that this is our birth story. This is our origin story. This is what connects us.
I believe that fragmentation—the way we’ve separated ourselves from this understanding—causes 90% of our problems. I just hope that through this project, through this music and art, we can help people see the world differently.
That’s why we’ve been so focused on creating a really good recording and visual representation, so we can carry this forward into educational spaces.
From the beginning, we knew that EUO was not just a choral and orchestral composition—it was a response to the greatest crisis in human history, and therefore had to be more than just a concert event. The arts have the power to shift perspectives at a deep, emotional, even physiological level. We wanted EUO to be a catalyst for that shift, not only through performance but through education, storytelling, and communal experience.
That’s why we see this as a project. It is part of a broader movement—what Thomas Berry called “the reinvention of the human at the species level.” The oratorio is just one expression of that. We are also working toward educational materials, symposiums, immersive experiences, and collaborations with organizations that align with our vision. Our next performance is just one point in an evolving story—one that we hope will continue through recordings, discussions, new artistic collaborations and educational materials.
Kosmos: Tell me about the next performance.
Paula: The next performance of the Emergent Universe Oratorio will take place on Friday, July 18th, at Zankel Hall, Skidmore College, from 7 to 9 p.m. We’re also planning a streaming option for a wider audience.
Zankel Hall is one of the few venues in the NY Capital Region that can fully support EUO’s large-scale vision, accommodating its expansive chorus, orchestra, and intricate, animated set design. To bring the experience to life, we are engaging a producer and director for professional film and audio capture, which will also support educational programs, community engagement, and a documentary film.
The performance will feature Albany Pro Musica Chorus, along with 150 students from Canada and the U.S. who will be attending a choral singing program that week. At the culmination of their program, they will join Albany Pro Musica for at least two pieces from the Oratorio, creating a massive choral sound at key moments.
Sam has been working closely with conductor José Daniel to ensure the orchestration and performance align seamlessly with EUO’s artistic vision.
Sam: I want to say something about José Daniel—he’s a wonderful person. He truly understands the urgency of this moment, and he deeply respects both the piece and the people involved.
With Albany Pro Musica, they’ve consistently chosen themes that matter—themes that are important to the community. They’ve focused on peace, love, and now, the climate crisis. José Daniel is immensely skilled, and he approaches this work with kindness.
The Evocative Art of Cameron Davis
A brief excerpt from the Oratorio’s animated set design
The video animation uses details from over 20 paintings by Cameron Davis. Their abstractions of plant patterns with moving elements created in partnership with Animator William Tipper, suggest a living Earth and Universe: core to the Oratorio content. The video will be projected behind the orchestra, with the 150-person choir surrounding the audience from the balcony of Zankel Hall, at Skidmore College in Saratoga, NY.
“Our process as collaborators is similar to making a painting, except shared — a form of wayfinding and meaning-making — spurred on by our initial impulse to meet our despair for the world, along with our desire to contribute to the flourishing of the world.” – Cami Davis
Emergent Universe Oratorio, Movement #5, Life’s Emergence
Music by Sam Guarnaccia
Libretto: Sam & Paula Guarnaccia, Cameron Davis, John Cimino
Design by Cameron Davis with Animator William Tipper
05EUO Life’s Emergence – Movement #3
Across the broad field of space and deep time,
Star systems and their planets…
Have raced through gravity’s ethereal ocean
Suspended in light and darkness.
One planet – a mix of
Churning seas, roiling magma,
And charged atmosphere –
Whispers into being
Tiny single-celled organisms…
And so—becomes a Living Earth.
As the first fragile membrane formed,
Imparting to the cell its boundary of identity, (Capra)
There arose within the cell the miracle of DNA—
Of molecular encoding—
Combining, recombining, remembering.
And out of this astounding fertility
Emerged PATTERNS of adaptation and invention,
The cell now becoming the first locus of perception, sensation, action —
Out of which arose every other living thing.
Spirals of memory are mirrored in the unfolding fern,
The spider web, the nautilus, the snail.
As these earliest forms
Made their home upon burgeoning Earth,
Some of them, responding to the energy of the Sun,
Turn toward the light —
Inaugurating the wonder of photosynthesis.
Sunlight, now food for the planet!
Algae, fungi, mosses,
Slime molds, sporophytes, the slithering fishes,
Frogs, turtles,
Every species of bird
Stretching their bright wings across the sky.
And the skinny shrew,
Small, warm blooded, among
The first of the beautiful mammals.
LIFE!
Through life Earth awakened to itself AND to the Universe.
From the Flaring Forth – to galaxies – to stars – to Living Earth,
Ahhhh …
Because—nothing is itself without everything else.
Kosmos: Cami, what do you feel is at the heart of this project, as an artist?
Cami: For me, this is experiential. I used to describe my work as visual prayers, but now I think of them as energetic consciousness shifts. I don’t know exactly how to talk about it—I don’t want to hang my hat on the word prayer anymore, but I use it here as an invitation to go inward, to listen.
Art engages multiple levels of knowing. This project isn’t about offering one story to save the world, but rather about joining the many stories that are bubbling up—helping people make sense of this moment. I love how Manda Scott talks about thrutopias—speculative futures that help guide us forward. Stories, whether speculative or grounded in the present, can help us navigate this time. We don’t know what will shape the emergence of what comes next.
Sam: This oratorio is an invitation—to experience your wholeness and your belonging within the ravishingly beautiful tapestry of a living planet and a living universe. And what powers that universe? The only word that can truly capture this relentless drive toward more diversity, more interiority, more individuality, and more communion is love.
Kosmos: Love. That’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? I see so much love in the three of you. I deeply respect your aspirations and the enormous integrity of your work—the effort, the hours, the dedication, the love you’ve put into this piece.
I hope, I pray, that it is shared far and wide and that many, many beings benefit from it—in this world and in all the worlds to come.
Return to the table-of-contents for this Issue, Beyond Conditioned Thinking
