Life Death And Cosmic Liftoff At The Planetarium

On Feb. 26, two shows filled the John R. Kirk Planetarium with live music, wide eyes and craned necks. The event titled “Cosmic Liftoff,” was inspired by renowned composer Terry Riley’s “Holy Liftoff.” Claire Chase, a flutist, artist and Professor of the practice in the Department of Music at Harvard University and the musician for whom the piece was written, graced the small dome herself with a live performance featuring several students from the SUNY New Paltz Music Department’s Multi-Keyboard Ensemble. Life, death and rebirth were portrayed harmoniously through a sonically classical and visually cosmic culmination.

The event was organized by Alex Peh, associate professor in the Department of Music and Raj Pandya, director of the planetarium. Funded by the “Creating a Stronger New Paltz Together 2024-2025” initiative, the event works toward the goal to support both faculty and students in their efforts to bring people together. The show’s themes were based around those centered in Riley’s work: birth, death and the new beginnings. As the audience witnessed a supernova — the violent death of a star — the music matched its urgency and chaos, elevating the experience so that it felt visceral. Soon after, Pandya zoomed in on a nebula — a stellar birth caused by the death of another star. 

For this particular piece, Riley was commissioned by Chase as part of her ongoing Density 2036 project, now entering its 12th year. 

The orchestra consisted of toy pianos, synthesizers, one kalimba and Chase’s flute. Pandya, who works a number of planetarium shows on a regular basis, collaborated with Peh, the student musicians and Chase to ensure that a cohesive auditory/visual experience was cultivated for audiences. 

“I sculpted the show based on the themes in the music that they gave me,” Pandya said. “We worked together… I would show something and they would play something that [went] with it.” Although the piece was written by Riley and its execution closely followed his intention for the piece, the composer deliberately left room for improvisation, allowing the musicians to play off of one another. The result was a unique performance every time. 

The planetarium opened in the 1960s, and was named after John R. Kirk, a professor of philosophy at SUNY New Paltz in 1979. Pandya presumed he would have projected simple astronomical images in the dome using 33 millimeter slides. 

Since then, modern technology has allowed expansive advancements in what is projected onto the ceiling every time the lights go down. 

For the final part of the show, the landscape zoomed out from where the humble planetarium sits on the SUNY New Paltz campus, out through Earth, the solar system, the Milky Way among 100 billion galaxies and the universe. As people filed out at the end of the show, a voice could be heard exclaiming, “We’re tiny.” That’s exactly how it felt.

Since 2011, Pandya has been facilitating cosmic shows and guiding students through putting on their own. There is typically one live music event per year, in between the regularly scheduled shows that occur on the first and third Thursday of each month. Additional events include shows offered on weekends for kids ages 3-6 and 7-10, and Meditation Under the Stars led by Donna Sherman, a meditation expert. 

For more information about planetarium shows and upcoming events, visit www.newpaltz.edu/planetarium/ or follow @npkirkplanetarium on Instagram.