THE HUBBLE PAIRINGS

Composed by Paola Prestini and Julian Wachner
Libretto by Royce Vavrek
Conducted by Julian Wachner
Featuring soprano Jessica Rivera, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, 1B1, and Novus NY Narration and texts inspired by astrophysicist Mario Livio

The Hubble Pairings consists of two multimedia works, Epistle and Hubble Cantata,  which illustrate the relationship between music, film and science, created to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the start of the Hubble Space Telescope’s mission. The Hubble Pairings project is commissioned by VisionIntoArt.

The first, Epistle, is by composer Julian Wachner and features text by Royce Vavrek. Epistle is an ode to a lost species, told by the last inhabitant on earth. The second is a fully-realized Hubble Cantata by composer Paola Prestini. The Hubble Cantata features astrophysicist Mario Livo’s uniquely sensitive and intellectual writings in the form of narration with text by Royce Vavrek. Both works will feature critically acclaimed soprano Jessica Rivera and baritone TBD, with the Grammy-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street and the Norwegian Grammy-winning 1B1 string orchestra.
The Hubble Pairings will link the intellectual writing of Dr. Livio through electronic and choral interludes. Livio was a senior astrophysicist and the Head of the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. Livio’s narration at the beginning of the Hubble Cantata states: “All the elements in our bodies that are necessary for life – they were forged inside the nuclear furnaces of stars. Humans and the stars are really connected. They are connected by this enormous cosmic connection which gives rise to both.” The Hubble Pairings will be released through VisionIntoArt’s record label, VIA Records.

Hear The Hubble Cantata on Paola’s website.

And see a short excerpt on Vimeo

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Mario Livio is an internationally known astrophysicist, a bestselling author, and a popular lecturer. Mario Livio was a senior astrophysicist and the Head of the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the author of the bestselling book, Brilliant Blunders, and The Golden Ratio, a highly acclaimed book about mathematics and art for which he received the International Pythagoras Prize and the Peano Prize, The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved, and The Accelerating Universe. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Support: The Hubble Pairings is supported, in part, by an award from The National Endowment for the Arts – Art Works and by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.