View the world premiere film of “Stars” by Trevor Weston, commissioned in 2020 by Musiqa, and featuring the reading of a new poem by Donika Kelly created especially for the occasion. Then explore the science, spirituality, history and literature that inspired this music at one of the three modules below.

This project was made possible through the generous cooperation of NASA. All images provided courtesy of NASA.

This series is designed for elementary and middle school students.

This project was made possible through the generous cooperation of NASA. All images provided courtesy of NASA.

Musiqa began its 2020-2021 season with the world premiere of a new work celebrating the human obsession with the night sky and the universe. Composer Trevor Weston’s “Stars” utilized stellar seismology research recordings to create a new interpretation of the “music of the spheres.” The text was drawn from the poem of the same name by Robert Hayden, the first African-American writer to hold the office of Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (since renamed U.S. Poet Laureate.) 

This series of videos provides context for Robert Hayden’s work and Musiqa’s commission through interviews with astronomer Dr. Gibor Basri, literary scholar Emerson Zora Hamsa, religion scholar Dr. Josef Sorett, and composer Trevor Weston.