Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe and violinist Jack Liebeck came into the KPBX studio to chat with E.J. Iannelli about this weekend’s Masterworks 6 concert, titled “A Message to the Stars.”
The program for this concert is based around works that have some association with outer space. The selections include the traditional Ukrainian folksong “Watching the Sky and Thinking a Thought,” the first song sung in orbit; Dario Marianelli's “Voyager Concerto;” Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Arecibo-inspired "Primal Message;" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which was sent into interstellar space on the Golden Record aboard the Voyager spacecraft.
Lowe discussed the origins of some of the pieces and how they relate to the theme of this concert. Liebeck was able to shed a very personal light on Marianelli's “Voyager Concerto,” which was written for him as part of a project that also involved physicist and science personality Brian Cox.
Many of the works also bear some connection to astronomer Carl Sagan, who was involved in the 1974 Arecibo broadcast and the planning of the Golden Record for the 1977 Voyager probe launches.
There are two performances of Masterworks 6. The first is on Saturday, February 3; the second is on Sunday, February 4. Both are at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox in downtown Spokane.
For tickets, visit the Fox Theater website or call the box office on (509) 624-1200.
