When Climate Meets Crescendo: Hugo Clément and Worakls Rewire the Message
- Edouard Gay
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
On March 10th, parisian theatre Edouard VII was hosting one of their “Rencontres et savoir” lecture series. This one was the setting for an interesting experiment by French journalist Hugo Clément, well known for his environmental battles: combining a conference with symphonic and electronic music, partnering with the French DJ and producer Worakls.
Hugo Clément reminded at the start of the conference that Worakls and him were good friends, the music producer also being the composer of Clément’s “Sur le Front” TV program soundtrack. Broadcast on French public television, it is known for its investigations into various environmental scandals.
A plea for the animal cause
The evening’s theme: Change the way we look at the living — could have gone in many directions. But Clément chose to focus on a topic still often avoided: our treatment of animals in industrial farming and slaughterhouses. It was a bold move, and an emotional one....
He outlined that large-scale animal agriculture is a key driver of environmental degradation, contributing to deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
He did mention plastic pollution when talking about oceans health, pointing out the fact that it is the second most important cause of marine biodiversity collapse, just after overfishing.
Worakls as a conductor to bring words to life
From the very beginning, Hugo Clément was staying on one side of the scene, letting Worakls occupy the other side, as to show that both were going to be of equal importance. The center of the stage was for the orchestra : three string instruments (violin, viola and cello) and two wind (bassoon, flute).
If the content of the lecture wasn't already gripping and deeply moving enough, Worakls and his musicians took charge of exalting the sometimes vivid emotions felt within the audience.
After opening the night with an introduction track, they kept accompanying Hugo Clément on most of his speech. The orchestra with their instruments, and Worakls as a conductor, also using sound effects and background music, creating really touching melodies.
A good example of how this music punctuated Clément's talk was when he mentioned his encounter with gorillas in the equatorial forest, and the strong connection he felt when his gaze met one of them.
The reactivity of the musicians and their capacity to adapt quickly to different parts of the lecture, led by Worakls’ conductor direction, was pretty impressive. And a unique experience for sure!
A new format to explore
The idea of mixing musical performance and a conference proved to be intriguing, and enhanced the fact that Clement made the choice to use art to reinforce his plea, the reason why he also chose to start his lecture with a beautiful poem from Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot).
Sure, it wasn’t always easy to take in the words and music all at once. But that was the point — to feel it all. To remind us that fighting for the planet isn’t just about facts and numbers. It’s about connection, beauty, and emotion.
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