Blueshift - November 30, 2009: The Music of Science




NASA Blueshift show

Summary: The evening of November 2, 2009 was the world premiere of "Cosmic Reflection," an orchestral composition inspired by one of NASA's satellites, in Washington, DC. This opus began as a simple prelude inspired by (and performed by a brass quintet at) the launch of the GLAST mission. To celebrate the first birthday of this satellite (since renamed Fermi), composer Dr. Noel Gasser wrote a symphony which uses music to aurally portray the history of the universe. We were able to go backstage at the Kennedy Center on the day of the performance to speak to a few of the people involved in this project, including the composer, the producer, a NASA scientist, and the "voice" of Cosmic Reflection.