{"id":19579,"date":"2015-11-03T23:25:42","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/symphonic-spacefest-origins-concert-sets-the-big-bang-and-astrobiology-to-music\/"},"modified":"2015-11-03T23:25:42","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:25:42","slug":"symphonic-spacefest-origins-concert-sets-the-big-bang-and-astrobiology-to-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/symphonic-spacefest-origins-concert-sets-the-big-bang-and-astrobiology-to-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Symphonic SpaceFest: \u2018Origins\u2019 concert sets the Big Bang and astrobiology to music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Big
An artist\u2019s conception shows two \u201cbranes\u201d colliding in multidimensional space, creating the Big Bang that gave rise to our own universe 13.8 billion years ago. (Animation by Deep Sky Studios)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Big Bang never looked, or sounded, so good: The piece de resistance<\/em> for this week\u2019s SpaceFest in Seattle is a symphonic review of 13.8 billion years of cosmic history, from its expansive beginnings to an unpredictable sonic wave of emergent behavior.<\/p>\n

Most of the SpaceFest events take place at the Museum of Flight, but the capper is a concert titled \u201cOrigins: Life in the Universe,\u201d unfolding at Benaroya Hall at 2 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole focus is to blow people away with the beauty of astronomy,\u201d scientist-composer Glenna Burmer, one of the prime movers for \u201cOrigins,\u201d told GeekWire.<\/p>\n

Burmer developed the idea in concert with astronomers and astrobiologists at the University of Washington as well as composers and artists. The concert begins with a big bang, literally, when percussionists from UW\u2019s School of Music pound on Benaroya Hall\u2019s walls. Then the tone becomes more tuneful, thanks to the Northwest Sinfonia under the direction of Grammy-winning conductor David Sabee.<\/p>\n

Burmer\u2019s composition, \u201cThe Big Bang,\u201d encapsulates the history of the universe while an animation depicts the stages of cosmic evolution on the hall\u2019s giant video screen. Deep Sky Studio\u2019s view of the Big Bang reflects an out-of-this-world idea about the universe\u2019s origin: that it came into being when two realms collided with each other in an extradimensional multiverse.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/vimeo.com\/138440686<\/p>\n

The visual feast continues throughout the concert \u2013 accompanied by seven other compositions that expand on cosmic themes, including stellar evolution, planetary diversity and the origins of life in the universe. \u201cIt\u2019s a unique synthesis of art, science and music,\u201d Burmer said.<\/p>\n

One of the works, about the fringes of our own solar system, was written by 12-year-old Kohl Hebert. \u201cHe\u2019s one of these Mozart-like people,\u201d Burmer said. \u201cThis is the real deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cImages of Emergence,\u201d written by veteran video-game composer Stan LePard, isn\u2019t a note-by-note composition. Instead, it\u2019s a set of instructions and musical phrases that the symphony players combine as they see fit. \u201cIf you look at his score, it\u2019s just one page,\u201d Burmer said. The combinations of simple elements give rise to complex melodies \u2013 demonstrating the workings of emergent behavior.<\/p>\n

\"pluto\"
\nScience journalist Alan Boyle<\/strong> is the author of “The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made A Big Difference.”<\/p>\n

The Museum of Flight\u2019s lineup for SpaceFest, meanwhile, focuses on the future of humanity beyond Earth. The events begin on Thursday and ramp up on Friday and Saturday. One panel focuses on artistic visions of space exploration. Another looks into what it takes to live in space or in an extreme environment on Earth. Saturday\u2019s discussions delve into the prospects for Mars exploration and settlement.<\/p>\n

SpaceFest\u2019s speakers include former astronauts John Herrington and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Chris Carberry of Explore Mars, Miles Smith of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, neuroradiologist Donna Roberts and authors Rand Simberg (\u201cSafe Is Not an Option\u201d) and Chris Impey (\u201cBeyond: Our Future in Space\u201d). If you\u2019ve ever wanted to have an astronaut help you build a glider, or take a virtual-reality walk on Mars, here\u2019s your chance.<\/p>\n

The Museum of Flight\u2019s second annual SpaceFest runs from 5 to 9 p.m. on First Free Thursday and continues 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (free with museum admission). Tickets for Saturday\u2019s \u201cOrigins: Life and the Universe\u201d concert are available via the Benaroya Hall ticket office.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An artist\u2019s conception shows two \u201cbranes\u201d colliding in multidimensional space, creating the Big Bang that gave rise to our own universe 13.8 billion years ago. (Animation by Deep Sky Studios) The Big Bang never looked, or sounded, so good: The piece de resistance for this week\u2019s SpaceFest in Seattle is a symphonic review of 13.8 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1874,5611,2050,4450,5131],"class_list":["post-19579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-astrobiology","tag-benaroya","tag-cosmology","tag-museum-of-flight","tag-spacefest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}