As the lights dimmed in Lyman Hall, violin notes accompanied lively animations of coral reefs and fish moving in and out of view.
On March 29, Pomona College hosted “Music for the Ocean” in the Thatcher Music Building. The multimedia concert was built around an original album composed by Chad Cannon, an Emmy-nominated, Harvard and Juilliard-trained composer and violinist. Held from 3. to 6 p.m., the event drew approximately 150 people.
“Music of the Ocean” is a touring performance designed to raise awareness and funds for ocean conservation. The program combines live violin and piano performances with ocean-themed animations designed by Emmy-winning animator Tim Rauch. Together, the blend of music and visuals transformed a charity event for marine life and environmental change into a live, immersive experience.
Professor Tom Le, chair of the Pomona Politics and Asian Studies Department, brought this concert to the college to highlight how coral reef decline affects biodiversity through art and performance. This project also serves as a fundraising initiative for Tela Coral, an organization dedicated to protecting and studying a uniquely resilient coral reef system off the coast of Tela, Honduras — one of the few remaining sites in the Caribbean where endangered corals continue to thrive.
“This reef has a lot of the markers that are killing corals elsewhere in the world: hot water, pollution, sediment,” Tiffany Duong, co-founder and board member of Tela Coral, said. “But here in Tela, it doesn’t seem to be having that same effect. A lot of the corals are doing extremely well, some even thriving.”
It is hard to overstate the environmental crisis at the heart of this concert: over the last 25 years, over 80 percent of the Caribbean’s coral reefs have disappeared. Tela Coral partners with scientists to investigate how certain reefs have remained resilient in the face of this extinction. Their researchers have established a marine biology lab and coral biobank to support studies and long-term restoration efforts.
“We need a biobank as a kind of safety deposit box of coral genetics,” Duong said. “We would have live corals in tanks, protected and monitored, so we can preserve them for future study and restoration.”
Duong explained that if proven resilient, these corals could play a role beyond Honduras, pointing to ongoing efforts to crossbreed corals to increase their tolerance to heat and pollution.
“Music for the Ocean” aims to fundraise for these efforts while also giving attendees a visceral understanding of what they are fighting so hard to protect. The show is structured in two parts: the first focuses on coral reef ecosystems, beginning with “Birth of the Coral” and moving through species such as clownfish, turtles, and pufferfish; while the second shifts toward deeper ocean environments, incorporating phenomena like bioluminescence and electroreception.
On stage, these animated ideas unfolded alongside an orchestral performance, with deliberate transitions between compositions. Cannon paused briefly between pieces to introduce each species or process, grounding the performance in a real biological context. In pieces like “Heat Wave,” a steady melody slowly unraveled, mirroring the breakdown of coral systems under prolonged temperature stress.
“I’m always trying to go for immediate impact,” Cannon said. “So that almost anyone can feel something right away, even if they don’t know anything about music. There’s something about gathering in a space and experiencing this together that you can’t replicate anywhere else.”
Following the performance, a panel moderated by Le brought together Dr. Carly Kenkel, Gablian assistant professor of biological science in Marine and Environmental Biology at the University of Southern California; Nina Karnovsky, Willard George Halstead Zoology Professor of Biology at Pomona College and Duong, alongside Cannon.
Throughout the panel, speakers highlighted the real-world impacts of reef conservation. Coral reefs, which support nearly 25 percent of marine species, are among the most threatened ecosystems globally. Rising ocean temperatures, driven by increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, cause coral bleaching, weakening reefs and reducing their ability to recover from additional stressors such as pollution and storm damage.
“Temperature is by far and away the biggest threat to marine systems,” Kenkel said, pointing to sustained heat stress as the main driver behind coral reef decline.
As climate-driven warming intensifies, coral reefs begin to break down, leading to biodiversity loss and ecological instability. The ongoing climate crisis directly affects the species and coastal communities that depend on them, and Tela Coral aims to highlight the consequences of insufficient preservation efforts.
“Even if you don’t believe in climate change, you can see that coral reefs are dying in front of you,” Le said. “So whatever the reason is, you should be doing something to bring it back.”
He added that this responsibility extends beyond individuals to the institutions that shape environmental policy, funding and public engagement. Le urged higher education institutions to take visible, concrete positions on environmental issues, rather than avoiding them out of caution or a sense of institutional neutrality.
“If they’re [colleges] afraid of something as simple as that, then the college isn’t really standing for anything big,” Le said, pointing to the role academic institutions should play in actively supporting environmental issues.
Yet, even when institutions publicly support ocean protection, people continue to engage in behaviors that contribute to reef degradation. Dr. Juli Berwald, co-founder and president of Tela Coral, pointed to a gap between understanding the impacts of coral loss and taking measures in response.
“Data is just not enough. And when I see what happens to people when they listen to [Cannon’s] music, it bridges that gap between what our intellect can understand and what our heart can feel,” Berwald said. “And I don’t think we take action until we feel things in our heart.”
Drawing on this reality, “Music for the Ocean” urges its audience to recognize the importance of coral reef preservation, appealing to people by immersing art in scientific research. In doing so, the concert extends scientific research into a complex artistic immersion. But the performance does not end with awareness; it addresses what comes next — individual action.
“Find a local cause,” Cannon said. “Show up and try to be a voice for that.”