National Philharmonic Intertwines Science + Art with “Cosmic Cycles, A Space Symphony” 

“Cosmic Cycles, A Space Symphony” pairs NASA telescope pictures along with beautiful musical compositions.

Space and music will combine this week as the National Philharmonic presents the world premiere of “Cosmic Cycles, A Space Symphony” by D.C.-based composer Henry Dehlinger. 

The innovative seven-movement symphonic suite can be heard at Capital One Hall at 7:30 p.m. on May 11, and at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda at 8 p.m. on May 13.

Throughout the 2022-23 season, the Philharmonic has collaborated with NASA on several creative projects that bridge the gap between art and science. Already, Dehlinger has presented “Return to the Moon, A Fanfare to Artemis,” which marked the rollout of the main launch vehicle of NASA’s Artemis lunar program.

“This is a consilience of two series of relationships,” Dehlinger says. “The National Philharmonic has had a relationship with NASA’s Goddard for a number of years. Piotr Gajewski [the Philharmonic’s conductor] reached out to his friends at Goddard and asked them to put together a collage of images and that’s how the relationship started.” 

But after several successful collaborations, Gajewski had a slightly different idea this time around. He approached Dehlinger and asked him what he would think about NASA driving the storyline. This is different than past collaborations between the National Philharmonic and NASA, where images were selected based on already-written music. 

“NASA actually developed the images and the film first, so that would determine the themes, and would then form the inspiration for the music that would be written afterwards,” Dehlinger says. “I was quite intrigued. Peter got the folks at NASA and me together and we started from there, outlining a symphonic suite of seven movements.”

Photo from NASA Goddard.

The new symphony was inspired by images captured by NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes and visualizations created by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with Dehlinger creating the work from what was presented to him. 

“They wanted to highlight some things that were not as much in the public consciousness, such as their recent missions to the asteroid belt,” the composer says. “They also wanted to make sure this work would embody all the new wonderfully stunning images we were getting from the James Webb Space Telescopes.”

Dehlinger named the movements based on the images, illustrations and videos — The Sun; Earth, Our Home; Earth as Art; The Moon; Planetary Fantasia; The Travelers; and Echoes of the Big Bang. 

As a child, Dehlinger admits he was part of the generation that lived in the afterglow of NASA’s glorious moments — including when they landed on the moon and successful space shuttle missions.

“I think it was something that was built in me from when I was a kid,” he says. “More recently, living here in Washington and knowing people involved in the defense industry, I have become fascinated with space and what we’re doing in space. So, the enthusiasm for this project has been developing for a number of years, if not my entire lifetime.” 

During both performances, conducted by Gajewski, Dehlinger’s symphonic poems will be paired with HD projections of the visuals so audiences can connect the two together. 

“People will see things they’ve never seen before, quite literarily, because the images that are coming in are very cutting-edge,” Dehlinger says. “These visualizations allow us to experience them in 3D, which is really cool.”

Prior to both concerts, the National Philharmonic and NASA Goddard will host educational and engagement activities in the lobbies of Capital One Hall and Strathmore, which will include a lecture from a real-life NASA astronaut, “ask as scientist” booths corresponding to movements in Dehlinger’s symphonic suite and a touchable lunar rock. 

Tickets for both events can be purchased here. 

Capital One Hall: 7750 Capital One Tower Rd. Tysons, VA; capitalonehall.com // @capitalonehall

The Music Center at Strathmore: 5301 Tuckerman Ln. North Bethesda, MD; strathmore.org // @strathmorearts

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Keith Loria

A theatre buff and huge music fan, Keith Loria is a D.C.-based award-winning journalist who has been writing about the arts for more than 20 years. He started his career with the Associated Press and has written for Soap Opera Digest, Playbill and Music Review. He looks forward to 2021 and the theaters reopening! He’s the proud father of two daughters, who often accompany him on his theater outings. Visit his website at keithloria.contently.com.