Cody BirdwellUK students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend a special “Earth Weekend” concert, presented by the University of Kentucky Wind Symphony, on Sunday, April 23, 2023, 3:00 pm, in the Singletary Center for the Arts.
The highlight of the concert will be American composer Julie Giroux’s Symphony No. 6 “The Blue Marble”, which includes a remarkable film for an entirely immersive audience and performer experience.
Giroux explains how the concert is organized in three movements: “Movement One is titled The Big Blue Marble. It is often said that the first full image of Earth, the ‘Blue Marble’, taken by Apollo 17 in 1972, was the first full picture of the planet Earth. The picture is actually upside down, but it is the most reproduced picture in history. It happened sometime between 4:59:05 and 5:08:14, hours after Apollo’s launch as they traveled up to 25,000 miles an hour.”
“It became painstakingly clear to humanity, just how small and vulnerable our one and only home actually is. This movement celebrates that home in a variety of ways; think of it as an abbreviated introduction to Planet Earth through music. “
“The second movement, Voices in the Green, is inspired by the Amazon rainforest, which in effect has its own music. The density of growth with every shade of green, is the backdrop for this beautiful, strange opera. I knew I wanted to write music to those sounds. I composed Voices in Green with the Amazon jungle sounds playing as my audio backdrop. It influenced every note and phrase.
The final movement, Let There Be Life, illustrates violence, death, murder, birth, & life. I wanted to capture that commonality with music in the third and final movement. There is a recurring theme throughout the finale. It evolves, much like life on Earth. It moves through the music, transporting us from one musical setting to the next, ending in a majestic, grandiose way. The miracle of Earth is life. It is the fragile, silken thread that holds existence together. As with the famous Blue Marble photograph, I hope this symphony reminds people just how frail and beautiful Earth is.”
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