Premiered January 2oth, 2024
The Planetarium at the Rochester Museum and Science Center
fivebyfive
11′
Planetarium View Video
PROGRAM NOTE
As a child, one of my favorite places to go was the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Long Island, NY. I loved being enveloped by the hugeness of the screen and the depth of the sounds while learning about how our world exists within the universe. That feeling of awe still rushed through me whenever I brought my son to Hayden Planetarium here in NYC.
After becoming a composer, I noticed that nature and emotional states are recurring themes in my work. So when this project came about to write a piece commemorating the upcoming 2024 eclipse that would be premiered in an actual planetarium, I have to say my inner child was quite happy.
“In the Path of Totality” outlines the actual process of an eclipse: the anticipation, first contact, second contact, “Bailey’s beads”, totality (in which the length of this section of the piece is the same length of totality folks in Maine will experience), and the Diamond Ring effect (when the sun blindingly reappears from behind the moon). “Afterglow” is a purely emotional response to what I can imagine to feel after witnessing such an event while also feeling the sense of community in connecting to those also present around me.
Deep thanks to the ensemble fivebyfive and the New York State Council on the Arts for this wonderful opportunity to have a childhood-dream premiere in the Planetarium at the Rochester Museum and Science Center.