By Laura E.P. Rocchio
On Saturday, October 15, 2022, the Visitors Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight center presented an audio/visual event in celebration of Landsat’s 50th anniversary.
The orchestra was led by musical director, Richard Scerbo. Scerbo and Landsat calibration scientist, Ed Kaita, made the composition selections. Imagery was selected and choreographed by Landsat Outreach team members Ginger Butcher and Ally Nussbaum; Ross Walter from the outreach team produced the images into the evening’s video.
Kaita formulated the celebration symphony idea after attending a NASA seminar given by Emil Le Cou of the National Symphony Orchestra, who serves as a musical advisor to NASA.
To realize the vision of a chamber orchestra playing with Landsat imagery in the background, Kaita worked to connect a conductor (Scerbo), musicians, Butcher and her outreach team, and Cate Maynard from the Goddard Visitors Center.
Kaita, who has been playing the clarinet since he was a seven year old in New York City, shares that for him, “The commonality between Landsat—or the other missions I’ve worked including Hubble and COBE—and music, is that same visceral, emotional response I get from seeing the imagery and hearing the music.”
“It just makes sense to me, trying to blend the two.”
The Program
Saturday Night Waltz (from Rodeo) by Aaron Copland With the launch of Landsat 9, we begin our program with a view of American landscape from space.
Lyric Pieces Op 54, No. 3 “March of the Trolls” by Edvard Grieg Take a tour around our planet with these Landsat images of the seasons.
Suite in D-Major for Wind Instruments by Arthur Bird (Allegro Moderato, Adagio Moderato)Landsat has observed dramatic changes over its 5 decades of observations. This presentation shows the impact of change on our planet from both natural and anthropogenic causes.
Lyric Pieces Op 40, “Holberg Suite” by Edvard Grieg From volcanic eruptions and fires to hurricanes and floods, Landsat provide a unique view of these disasters and recovery.
Symphony No.99 in E-flat Major Josef HaydnThis collection of images are from the Earth As Art gallery created by USGS’s Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. There are currently six image collections of stunning artistic interpretations of Landsat images.
The Landsat Chamber Orchestra
Richard Scerbo, Music Director and Conductor
Oboe Susan Ashmore, Andrea Schewe
Clarinet Karin Caifa, Andy Tangborn, Ed Kaita
Bass Clarinet Ed Kaita
Bassoon Leila Duman, Jonathon Zepp
French Horn Edith Gilmore, Ken Hawes
Trumpets Len Morse, Bill Sturgis
Violin Wenli Mo (Principal), Jonathan Kunjummen, Alex Chang, Helena Amberger, Gabrielle Liverpool
Violas Amelia Colarco, Mike Garrahan, Carson Bear
Cello Jonathan Taylor, Courtney Kaita
Bass Fred Talcott
Flute Ellen Ensel, Teri Manolio
The full program can be downloaded as a PDF.
