Meet the Team
Photography by Christian Murillo
Christophe Chagnard
Founder and Executive Director
Engagement through creativity has been at the core of Christophe Chagnard’s philosophy throughout his distinguished career. As an Emmy Award winning composer, his music addressed pressing global issues such as systemic racism, climate change, intolerance, and social injustice. His latest works “Gaman” (2017) and “Terra Nostra” (2019) address systemic racism and climate change respectively. As a Grammy-nominated conductor, Christophe Chagnard has led a vast repertoire of symphonic, operatic, and ballet works of all styles and periods. He has also spent three decades making the concert hall accessible to all, addressing the elitist stereotype that plagues this art form. As a guitarist, he explores a wide array of styles and traditions together in genre-defying creations intended to present an open and inclusive voice that transcends labels.
Myka Stewart
Social Media Coordinator
Myka is a senior studying Cello Performance and Environmental Science at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN and is born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He loves spending time outdoors camping, hiking, and kayaking and goes on road trips with his family to National and State Parks across the U.S. (he wants to visit all of them someday!). His exposure to and love of nature is one of the driving factors behind his passion for climate activism. Myka started working with Earth Creative because he believes that, as an artist and environmental activist, art has a powerful place in environmental activism and can move people to make real change. Outside of school he likes to crochet, take care of his many plants, walk dogs, and spend time with friends and family. After graduating, Myka is planning on pursuing a Master’s in Music for Cello Performance but wants to continue his work with environmental activism through art.
Clayton Brainerd
Chair Emeritus
Portland Oregon born, award-winning bass-baritone Clayton Brainerd has sung leading roles all over the world, working with major opera and symphony companies and prominent conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz, Christophe von Dohnanyi, James Levine and Christophe Chagnard. Clayton now lives in Everett with his wife, Toni Lea, and has worked with University of Washington Facilities for the past decade. A lifelong commitment and interest in the conservation and protection of the environment, the participation on the Earth Creative board provides a dynamic opportunity to make a significant difference in the world.
Christian Murillo
Earth Creative Photographer
Christian Murillo is a nature photographer and environmental storyteller. His art exposes the simultaneous power and fragility of the natural world, particularly within the context of climate change. Most recently, Murillo published “Soul of the Skagit” in 2023, a book which uses a combination of writing and photography to tell the story of the Skagit River, using this river as a case study to examine the complex relationships within nature that we as humans are so deeply connected to. His photographs have also been featured in gallery and museum exhibitions across the world, with his collection “Cascade Mountains: Born of Fire, Carved by Ice” featured in the LUMEN Museum of Mountain Photography in the Italian Dolomites in 2022
George Frandsen
Legal Council
George Frandsen is a practicing attorney with 25 years of experience as legal counsel to nonprofit organizations. He was legal counsel, a vice-president and board member of the International Organization of Folk Art (IOV) from 1980, finally serving as the organization’s Secretary General. During his tenure as Secretary General, he led the teams that established official partnerships with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section of UNESCO, where he is an accredited consultant. Frandsen is also a civil rights activist, having served on the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union, board member of the ACLU Southern California, and as president of the board of the ACLU of Utah.
