Fredonia music faculty, alumna commissioned to write music in celebration of total solar eclipse
Dr. Andrew Martin Smith, Jamie Leigh Sampson
School of Music Lecturer and alumnus Andrew Martin Smith and former adjunct lecturer Jamie Leigh Sampson were commissioned by the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) to collaborate in the creation of new musical compositions in celebration of the total solar eclipse crossing North America.
TAPA has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $20,000. The grant will support the Toledo Symphony Orchestra performance event, “The Planets: The Orchestra’s Guide to the Galaxy,” on March 22 and 23 at the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle.
The performance will celebrate the total solar eclipse that will pass over Toledo in April with an unprecedented commission and world premiere of a new work for full orchestra written by nine composers from the ADJ•ective Composers’ Collective. Founded by Ms. Sampson, also a SUNY Fredonia alumnus, ’07, and Dr. Smith, '07, who teaches music composition, with roots in Northwest Ohio, ADJ•ective New Music has a multi-year history of collaboration with the Toledo Symphony.
"I’m proud to be involved in a project of this magnitude, which brings so many disciplines together, connected by our shared experience of the total solar eclipse. This unique commission reflects the rarity of this once-in-a-lifetime event." – Dr. Andrew Martin Smith
Nine of the composers of the ADJ•ective Composers' Collective, in partnership with the University of Toledo (UT) Department of Physics and Astronomy, have created an homage to the scientific properties of the planetary bodies of the solar system. Faculty at UT worked with the composers to provide feedback on scientific elements of the planets that helped inspire and shape each movement.
"I’m proud to be involved in a project of this magnitude, which brings so many disciplines together, connected by our shared experience of the total solar eclipse. This unique commission reflects the rarity of this once-in-a-lifetime event," Smith said.
The collective title of the nine new compositions is “ … of the spheres … ” The individual pieces are:
“Mercury: Bringing Dualities into Harmony,” by Cynthia Van Maanen; “Uranus: One Lifetime,” Hong-Da Chin; “Mars: Curiosity and Perseverance,” Andrea Reinkemeyer; “Pluto: The Outcast,” by Smith; “Venus: The Reversal,” Anne Neikirk; “Saturn: A Cross Section,” Alex Temple; “Neptune: The Unknown,” by Daijana Wallace; “Earth: The Spark by Robert McClure” and “Jupiter: Bringing Chaos into Orbit,” by Sampson.
Ticket information for both Toledo Symphony Orchestra performances is available here.
Smith and Sampson will also participate in a community conversation with Jim Ottaviani, a NASA solar system ambassador and writer, on Thursday, March 14, at Imagination Station KeyBank Discovery Theater.
