EXPLORING THE SPACE-TIME JAMTINUUM. A group of Eau Claire musicians and scientists rehearsed their unique show, “Waves: A Celebration of Astronomy and Music,” earlier this month.

Space and music will come together with a “big bang” this month as UW-Eau Claire presents its first ever astronomy and music presentation. 

“Waves: A Celebration of Astronomy and Music” promises to offer audiences a decidedly stellar musical experience that will be performed in conjunction with a live astronomy presentation. “We are using music, images, and video to try and capture some of what we now understand about the solar system that we live in,” said Matt Jewell, one of the creators of the Nov. 19 show at UWEC’s Davies Center. “We believe that the spheres of art and science are fundamentally linked, and our series at UWEC is a way to highlight this for our campus and our community.”

“Waves” is the result of a combination of many different talents from a varied group of people. Jewell, a professor of materials science, and Paul Thomas, a professor of physics and astronomy, formed the idea for this event after seeing the movie Particle Fever and realizing they both had similar project ideas in mind. The professorial duo decided to team up with retired art professor Tiit Raid, retired choral director George Utphall, and flautist Julia Majowski Thomas to bring their idea out from the drawing board and into existence. The team has been working on this project since the fall of 2014, and they intend to make this an annual event.

“Imagine the TV show Nova where the science narrative is accompanied by beautiful photographs and a musical soundtrack,” said Majowski Thomas, explaining how the show will come together. “You will hear Paul Thomas give a talk about recent exploration in our solar system, with accompanying musical score,” she said. As for the visuals, there will be magnificent slides of the solar system on three large screens. While the presentation is occurring, Majowski Thomas and Raid, a percussionist, will build a unique, improvised musical background. Utphall, a pianist, and Majowski Thomas will also play several musical background pieces which will, according to Majowski Thomas, “bring (audiences) back to (their) comfort zone every now and then.” 

The presentation by Thomas will incorporate the latest data from space missions to the planets, moons, and comets of the solar system. The presentation will be broken up into four sections covering topics such as the New Horizons flyby of Pluto; the atmospheres of outer giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; and finally the ongoing exploration of Mars.

The blending of art and science is aimed at giving audience members a strong feeling of wonder and a better understanding about the recent exploration of space. “Science has always been one approach to bring focus and clarity to art,” Jewell said. “Think of a beautiful illustration of the solar system or the human body or even a well-crafted graph in a scientific paper. In all these cases, it’s the artistic approach that gives the data relevance and highlights the critical details.”

In the true spirit of space, the performance will be followed by a reception and display of physics-inspired artwork by UWEC student Michelle Gervais as well as an afterglow buffet. Experience the wonder of space and celebrate the intersections between the arts and sciences with this live astronomy presentation.

Waves: A Celebration of Astronomy and Music • Thursday, Nov. 19, 7-8:30pm • Ojibwe Ballroom, Davies Center, UW-Eau Claire • FREE • www.tinyurl.com/UWEC-Waves