Ravinia 2024 Issue 3

said, with later 20th- and early 21st-century technology, scien- tists are getting so good at spotting tiny moons, the Interna- tional Astronomical Union no longer gives them names unless they have some significant scientific interest.) “About two hours into my research, I find this website that lists ‘Ten of the Weirdest Moons of Our Solar System.’ I started to shake,” Falkenberg remembers. “There’s more moons I could be writing for?! Oh my goodness! It was literally like a light- ning bolt had just hit me. I still get goosebumps just talking about it. “I looked at images of these moons, and the first thing that came to me is a little bit strange, but I’ll tell you anyway,” she confides. “The first thing was: These moons need music. The next thing that came was: These moons need emotion. Being a film composer, I’m so aware of the power of music. I had no background in astronomy whatsoever, and I thought, ‘I’m sure there are other people out there who don’t have any idea about these moons. What if I team up my compositional background with my love of moons?’ ” Another surprising thing about The Moons : Falkenberg didn’t set out to make a modern-day companion piece to The Planets —indeed, she says she wasn’t particularly familiar with the famous work. “About four months into composing moon after moon, someone had to point it out to me: ‘You realize people will make comparisons between you and Holst,’ ” she says. “I had to really think long and hard about it. How would they? Mine is so invested in scientific inspiration, which is why I personally wouldn’t think to pair it with The Planets , which is astrologically driven.” Indeed, Holst drew inspiration for his seven movements from the mythological progenitors of our solar-system neigh- bors: Mercury, for example, is the Winged Messenger; Mars, the Bringer of War; and Saturn, the herald of old age. Yet de- spite the notable differences, the two works do live in intrigu- ing confluence with one another. “I love to draw similarities,” Falkenberg admits. So regard- ing Planets and Moons , “here are three quite serendipitous things. First of all, his was a passion project, as is mine; these were not commissions. Secondly, we each took about the same time, two years, to write the work.” She describes her final point of comparison as an “uncanny connection.” The Planets received its first complete public per- formance in November 1920, courtesy of the London Sympho- ny Orchestra. “Would you believe me if I told you,” Falkenberg enthuses, “that I had Abbey Road Studios booked with the London Symphony Orchestra in December 2020 [to record The Moons ]? One hundred years after!” Of course, the inspired double presentation of The Moons and The Planets isn’t all that’s in store for this year’s Breaking Barriers Festival. Two evenings prior to the concert, the festival kicks off on July 24 with a free presentation, “An Earthling’s Guide to The Moons Symphony .” Held at Northwestern Uni- versity’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, the event will feature Falkenberg, Alsop, and a coterie of space experts from NASA and ESA who helped nurture the project, including astronaut Nicole Stott, founding director of the Space for Art Foundation. Also in attendance will be one of the tech wizards involved with the video component of The Moons Symphonic Suite : Paul Myer Hopkins, who did some video compositing, building on what Falkenberg calls the “incredible work” of artists Ron Miller and Ed Bell, who opened their catalogues of space-re- lated work to complement the visuals. Hopkins, in particular, has a deep connection to the work, given that he’s Falkenberg’s husband. Indeed, the whole trip to Illinois will be a homecoming for Hopkins, a classically trained musician who now focus- es on multimedia work in his job at the Dubai American Academy. “Funny enough, he got his master’s at Northwest- ern University,” says Falkenberg, who, for her part, earned a performance degree at the Conservatory of Music in Adelaide. (They ultimately met in 2004 in Seattle, during an intensive film-composing workshop.) During his time as an Evanston Wildcat, Hopkins also attended multiple concerts in Highland Park. Falkenberg notes with a chuckle, “He’s been sitting on the couch going, ‘I cannot believe my wife is about to headline Ra- vinia.’ He’s super excited about this incredible chain of events.” Falkenberg says she hopes this multi-pronged presentation of The Moons continues in the future. “Quite frankly, I want scientists to have more of the stage for this type of event,” she notes. Her goal is no less than marrying music and art with learning—a union of education and inspiration. To that end, the videos of the moons that accompany each movement will distinguish between actual footage collected from various space probes and animated interpretations of what humans have learned about these moons. “I’ve been very specific when producing these videos,” she points out. “We want people to know: This is happening in our solar system right now. This is not science fiction; this is science fact . That’s why I wrote the symphony, because I couldn’t believe these incredible stories coming back from these mind-blowing missions.” Native Chicagoan Web Behrens has spent most of his journalism career covering arts and culture. His work has appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune , Time Out Chicago , Crain’s Chicago Business , and The Advocate and Chicago magazines. Many of the Moons scientists have kept close to the project, attending the recording sessions and adding insights for the musicians—even less strictly scientific ones, like NASA/JPL’s tradition of “lucky peanuts.” At the Breaking Barriers events July 24–27, featured guests will include astronaut Nicole Stott and probe mission leads Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle and Prof. Michele Dougherty, as well as Drs. Davies and Tom Spilker. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 22 – AUGUST 4, 2024 16 BENJAMINEALOVEGA BENJA INEALOVEGA