Grammy-winning composer Paul Winter is coming to New Hampshire this weekend to celebrate trees – specifically, old growth forests in New England.
His concert at Dartmouth College this Saturday is called “This Glorious Earth.” It’s part of a series of events this weekend put on by the New England conservation organization, Standing Trees.
NHPR’s Morning Edition host Rick Ganley spoke with Paul Winter and Standing Trees’ Executive Director Zach Porter ahead of the event.
Transcript
Let me start with you, Zach. What are old growth forests specifically and where are they in New Hampshire?
Zach Porter: Old growth forests were the forests that blanketed much of our region here in New Hampshire and across New England prior to European colonization, of course with thriving Indigenous communities scattered throughout.
But today, less than one tenth of 1% of our landscape here in New England is old growth forest, or resembles the forests that were here not that long ago. And so old growth is the native habitat of most of our species, our amazing biodiversity here in the Northeast. But those forests are missing, and so are so many of the species that depend on them. And of course, the impacts are felt downstream.
And Paul, your music often highlights the natural world. You've recorded in the Grand Canyon, composed music around the bird calls of the wood thrush. Can you tell us more about your interest in old growth forests as a musician?
Paul Winter: I was first allured to the old growth when I visited the Northwest, where we have slightly more left, probably a good deal more left than in New England. But the majestic forests there were a great place of pilgrimage for me in earlier years, and we recorded one piece called "Cathedral Forest." I always had the experience that standing in the old growth forest and looking up at the way the branches arched together, you really see the origin of the Gothic arch that was used in cathedrals in Europe and now in America.
The old growth forests in the Northwest have gotten a great deal more attention in recent decades, but I'm thrilled to know about this old growth patch that's still there in the Sunapee forest here in New England, and very glad to make music in celebration of this habitat for creatures some of whose voices we can incorporate in our music.
Zach Porter: We're lucky that there are still these incredible gems that have persisted despite our best efforts to eliminate the old growth that's out there. And one of those examples that Paul just mentioned is this incredible tract of 1,700 acres on the slopes of Mount Sunapee in Mount Sunapee State Park, which, despite being in a state park, is unprotected from the development pressures that are coming its way from the neighboring Sunapee ski resort and from other kinds of resource extraction pressure.
So there's a really important moment here where we as a society need to make a choice: are these places important enough to us to protect? We know they're incredibly unique. We know that they are few and far between. They're living remnants of a forest that once blanketed this region. And they're a vision of what could be across more of New England if we gave more of our forests a chance.
And so it's up to us now to make sure that these few remaining amazing tracts of old growth are protected, and that we protect more of our mature and roadless and wild forests today so that they might someday grow old again.
[Editor’s note: Mount Sunapee’s environmental plan states it doesn’t practice timber harvesting and doesn’t anticipate doing so in the future.]
Paul, how do you view threats to old growth forest as a musician who often turns to that natural world for inspiration?
Paul Winter: I'm very moved by voices that I hear in wild areas of the earth. And the whole question is habitat for them and for us, and will we have a place to live that nourishes what we need to live a full life? And creatures that we have featured in this repertoire that we're drawing from on the Saturday concert include the timberwolf, the blue whale, the humpback whale, the wood thrush, the elk.
It's a far ranging cast of characters, not just voices from New England, but the idea is that if we could hear these voices and hear the soul in these creatures [we could] realize that we are part of the same life, family, and we need to share the earth with them and they need these forests and the wild places in which to live.
I want to ask you both what you want people to take away from this concert and this event series. What do you hope that people take away from it? Zach, let me start with you.
Zach Porter: Paul's music speaks straight to the heart and is a whole body experience when you are there, witnessing and being a part of that musical experience.
We really hope people come away with a feeling of deep inspiration and optimism. And we have chances right now to speak up to protect the White Mountain National Forest, to protect Mount Sunapee State Park. And so we know that people will walk away from this ready to to lean into that important work.
[Editor’s note: In the broadcast version of this story airing on 11/5/25 Porter incorrectly stated elk were once native to New Hampshire.]
Paul Winter: I would just add to that, that I hope that people can feel a sense of relatedness to this larger family, of which we were once a more integral part, and to imagine that we can be once again.
