News of natural disasters comes from Turkey and Syria and New Zealand. There’s the ongoing war in Ukraine and strife in Myanmar and Ethiopia. There are shootings, arguments, food insecurity, racism, political division around the globe, the ongoing effects of climate change, anger in public and private life...

All of which can make for a rather bleak scenario. Musicians live through these things, too. Often, there are threads of hope and resilience to be found in what they create.

In times  of turmoil, of anger, of pain, songs of protest have their place. In times of protest, of turmoil, of pain, there is also time for seeking peace, need for solace, for reflection and connection, even when --perhaps especially when --circumstances seem bleak and dangerous.

That's how the music in this episode of Music For Shifting Times is meant to work. There is hope in the midst of turmoil, ways to find rest and seek connection in the midst of upheaval. May this music help you find and share these things.

There are so many ways music can speak to, and with, these shifting and changing times. For this part of the adventure of Music for Shifting Times, come along on a journey that takes in dark and light, but always with hope as a companion.

Dark and light, hard news and good news, in public life and in personal circumstance, always shift and change. It is vital to balance hard and discouraging with good and hopeful; that's what makes it possible to seek hope in challenging times, and to share that seeking and finding with others. As other musicians have through the music we have shared thus far in this series, and these artists do here.

In time when politics ideas, understandings, and communications shift, it is challenging to find touchstones,signposts, if you will, to guide decisions. The sort of music we share in this series -- a series which is, after all, called music for shifting times -- can offer guidance and space for reflection. In this story, there are artists from New England, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, and Indiana.

There are threads which pull through, and ideas which resonate across the very different stories they tell.

Music is one of the world's great ways to connect, to reach across barriers, to get to know people and place. In a time when division seems to be the order of the day in many aspects of life, music can offer ways to think about connecting. Perhaps going to hear a concert will lift your spirits and give you a break from thinking about such divisions. Then again, perhaps a bit of wisdom, an insight, an image you receive by way of a song or a tune will inspire you to carry on with ways to heal, to respect, to connect.