A s riot police encircled Place de la République last week, lobbing teargas canisters to disperse demonstrators, the conductor Étienne Jarrier and his orchestra played on. They kept playing even after everyone else had disappeared and teargas was being fired into the central Paris square.

It was only when Jarrier noticed his musicians were being directly targeted that he ordered them to stop. “There were teargas canisters landing in the double bass and music stand cases, and starting fires the musicians had to stamp out,” he told the Guardian.

The Orchestre du Nouveau Monde (the ONM, or New World Orchestra) is used to accompanying protests. Co-founded by Jarrier in 2022, the Paris-based ensemble is made up of hundreds of young professional and amateur musicians, all volunteers and all committed to blend classical music and activism, particularly social and climate justice.

Étienne conducts the ONM in Paris last Saturday.…