Satellite Show took place on April 24, 2015 and marked the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble space telescope. I wrote a loose score / set of ideas for Ben Greenberg to play off, with the idea being he’d perform improv, for up to 97 minutes—the duration of one Hubble orbit around the earth.

Performance Credits:

Live Music by Hubble (Ben Greenberg)
Mylar balloons by Confections Ltd: Mylar balloons
Reading of Carl Sagan by Denise Kupferschmidt
Video loop by super/colider
AV Tech: Ask out to Eric Sheppard
Photos by Seze Devres and Ben Sisto
Concept and score: Ben Sisto

Initial Score:

00:00:00 - A reading of Carl Sagan by artist Denise Kupferschmidt
00:01:00 - Hubble begins playing lightly in back of reading

00:07:00 - Begin movement 1: Mirror Mirror
00:07:00 - Consider initial planning, funding, and launch
00:20:00 - Consider error; a flawed mirror
00:30:00 - on the triumph of science, pushing through adversity

00:40:00 - Begin movement 2: Do the Butterfly
Consider images of the following celestial bodies while improvising

40:00:00 - Butterfly Nebula
50:00:00 - Horsehead Nebula
01:00:00 - Eagle Nebula
01:10:00 - Helix Nebula
01:20:00 - Carina Nebula

01:30:00 - Begin movement 3: Orbital Decay
For the final 7 minutes of the performance, imagine the telescope in the Smithsonian Museum in the year 2050. Score some background music for a visiting field trip of young students.

01:37:00 Performance ends