Earth Music Theater Live brings multimedia show to Bombyx Center
The show pairs live music with astronaut photography and poetry about Earth viewed from space.
NORTHAMPTON — Earth Music Theater Live will perform a multimedia show at Bombyx Center for the Arts & Equity on Saturday, Oct. 3, blending live music with astronaut imagery captured from the International Space Station and readings from space poetry.
The performance, created by Northampton-based composer and guitarist Steve Thomas, weaves together live ensemble music and real-time video projections of Earth from orbit. Thomas described the experience as "piloting a rocket ship," using a Microcosm sonic processor made by Hologram Electronics to generate evolving soundscapes that shift and respond to the visuals on stage.
Thomas drew on music he originally composed 18 years ago for a Windows on Earth soundtrack, which was commissioned by TERC, a nonprofit STEM education organization, to accompany a 2008 mission to the ISS. The work was featured in exhibits at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, the Boston Museum of Science, and the St. Louis Science Center. In 2023, Dan Barstow, the original project director, reconnected with Thomas about pairing that music with astronaut photography to create Earth Movies, which became the foundation for Earth Music Theater Live.
The ensemble performing Oct. 3 includes Valley musicians Chris Cheek on alto saxophone, Claire Arenius on drums and percussion, Josh Metz on acoustic bass, and Carl Clements on bansuri flute and soprano saxophone. The hour-long performance leaves room for improvisation, with Thomas and the ensemble responding in real time to how the audience reacts and how the visuals unfold.
"When I'm playing the wacky box, things move around in the performance," Thomas said. "We walk about space, asteroids, satellites, things flying around, so there is this movement that is inherent in the sound."
Before the 7 p.m. performance, astrophysicist Dr. Salman Hameed, host of the Mr. Universe segment on NEPM's The Fabulous 413, will introduce the show with scientific perspective. The performance also incorporates poetry from Dr. Sian Proctor, an astronaut, geoscientist, and self-described Afrofuturist.
From 3 to 5:30 p.m., Bombyx will host free family activities including space arts and crafts, a raffle from A2Z Science and Learning Toy Store, and a scratch-built scale model of the International Space Station. Earth Music Theater Live has performed this show seven times over the last year and a half.