Projects · Song Cycle · Premiered 2011

Apollo

Eleven songs · ~30 minutes · voice & piano

Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface, Apollo 11 — NASA photograph
Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface, July 20, 1969. NASA photograph.

Apollo is an eleven-song, half-hour cycle written in 2011 using text taken directly from the transcripts of the Apollo 11 mission — the voices of Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and mission control, set to music with only minor edits for clarity.

The cycle was written to bring attention to the state of the space program by revisiting the greatest journey ever undertaken. After its premiere, it was recorded and, in collaboration with NASA, expanded with an accompanying video using footage from Apollo 11 and other NASA missions — premiering at IngenuityFest 2012 in Cleveland.

In movement #5, "Thanksgiving," the piano part contains Morse code rhythms spelling Houston, Tranquility, landing, and Moon separately — converging at the end to encode "Peace."

Watch

Apollo (2012) — the recorded cycle with NASA mission footage.
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