In this concert we celebrate Earth Day with music about animals, and we have organized the performance not by musical style but by animal classification. There has been music about (and in some cases by) animals for centuries, with birds as a favorite subject. Birds produce their own music, and many composers have employed that attribute; Janequin’s Chant des Oyseaux is probably one of the most famous examples of human-composed birdsong. In Contraponto Bestiale Alla Mente we hear the songs of two birds - the cuckoo and the owl – as well as those of a dog and a cat. We are also presenting new music by three Minnesota composers who have chosen invertebrates and reptiles as their non-singing subjects. So here are our musical tributes to all creatures great and small, cute or creepy, benevolent or predatory, inspiring or spectral.