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NASA Goddard, National Philharmonic Explore Cosmos Through Imagery, Music Collaboration

Awe-inspiring NASA visuals combined with the might of a live symphonic orchestra last week in “Cosmic Cycles,” a multimedia collaboration among the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the National Philharmonic, and composer Henry Dehlinger.

A darkened orchestra stage in a concert hall, with the James Webb Space Telescope image of the Carina Nebula projected on the screen. The theater appears mostly black, with the orchestra members faintly visible on stage and purple glowing panels lining the back of the stage. The image of the nebula looks like a bright orange cloud covering the bottom half of the screen, with jewel-tone blue and turquoise space visible behind. Bright stars sparkle throughout the image.

Awe-inspiring NASA visuals combined with the might of a live symphonic orchestra last week in “Cosmic Cycles,” a multimedia collaboration among the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the National Philharmonic, and composer Henry Dehlinger.

“At NASA, part of our charter is to share the results of our missions with the public,” said Wade Sisler, executive producer in Goddard’s Office of Communications. “By collaborating with composers and musicians, we create a vital bridge between the realms of science and imagination. This fusion of space exploration and musical creativity allows us to bring the beauty and mysteries of our universe to life in a way that transcends the boundaries of traditional scientific communication.”

Piotr Gajewski, music director of the National Philharmonic, conceived of the collaboration and brought the idea to Sisler. Gajewski then reached out to Dehlinger to compose new music for the performance: “Cosmic Cycles” was born.

Against a black background, a man with white hair waves his hands as he conducts an orchestra, off screen. He is looking downward toward a podium and his hands are blurred in motion, fingers spread wide.
Maestro Piotr Gajewski conducts the National Philharmonic in the world premier performance of Henry Dehlinger’s “Cosmic Cycles,” Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Va. “Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony” is a collaboration between composer Henry Dehlinger, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and the National Philharmonic that features a fusion of music and video in seven multimedia works on the Sun, Earth, Moon, Planets, and Cosmos.
Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Download the full-resolution image from NASA’s Cosmic Cycles Flickr album.

“There are some areas in which we’re pushing the envelope just a little bit,” Dehlinger said. The suite’s final movement, “Echoes of the Big Bang,” showcases imagery from the James Webb Space Telescope and computer models of black holes and colliding stars. Dehlinger added a synthesizer to his instrumentation and used NASA data of a black hole, converted into sound. “It is one of the most spectacularly eerie sounds you will ever experience,” Dehlinger said.

Goddard first collaborated with the National Philharmonic on a performance of Gustav Holst’s “Planets” suite and Debussy’s symphonic poem “La Mer” in 2018. What made “Cosmic Cycles” unique was how the project’s creative process was flipped on its head.

“Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony” is a groundbreaking collaboration among acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger, NASA, and the National Philharmonic, featuring a unique fusion of music and video in seven multimedia works on the Sun, Earth, Moon, planets, and cosmos. This transformative project takes the audience on a captivating voyage through the universe, showcasing the beauty and power of the marriage between music and science.
Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Watch the full “Cosmic Cycles” playlist on YouTube.
Download the “Cosmic Cycles” videos and related multimedia in HD formats from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

“I wanted to challenge NASA to actually put together videos without any music and let the music come after,” Gajewski said.

What followed was a nearly year-long creative process.

Each of the seven “Cosmic Cycles” movements focuses on a different aspect of space. Using sequences from Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio and other NASA groups, video producers Scott Wiessinger – project lead – and David Ladd, James Tralie, Lauren Ward, Ryan Fitzgibbons, and data visualizer Ernie Wright crafted distinctive multimedia pieces for each movement.

Dehlinger used the footage to tailor his musical composition. “There was this endless supply of inspiration.” he said. “It really was wonderful to be able to simply watch the film and then let the music unfold.”

An illustration of Earth's ocean currents appears on a large screen behind an orchestra on a dark stage. Continents are gray and ocean swirls range from orange to blue. The orchestra is barely visible; a soft light illuminates the conductor.
Goddard first collaborated with the National Philharmonic on a performance of Gustav Holst’s “Planets” suite and Debussy’s symphonic poem “La Mer” in 2018.
Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Download the full-resolution image from NASA’s Cosmic Cycles Flickr album.

Dehlinger said he is thrilled for audiences to experience this concert and hopes it connects each person to their presence in the vast universe around us. “I think everyone who was involved in this project not only put their minds into it, but they put their hearts into it,” he said.

“Cosmic Cycles” premiered May 11 at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia, with a repeat performance May 13 at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland. Goddard released a digital version of “Cosmic Cycles” with synthesized orchestra today on YouTube, and HD-quality downloads are available on the Scientific Visualization Studio website.

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Banner Image: Maestro Piotr Gajewski conducts the National Philharmonic in the world premier performance of Henry Dehlinger’s “Cosmic Cycles,” Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Va. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

By Libby Markham
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Media contact: Rob Garner
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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Last Updated
Sep 29, 2023