A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC Songs of Electromagnetic Radiation
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
presents A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC Songs of Electromagnetic Radiation Songs by David Haines, Michael Ching, Andrea Gaudette, Ruth Hertzman-Miller, Daniel Kallman, Dan Kohane, Bruce Lazarus, Tim Maurice, and Lauren Mayer Directed by Laura Backley Cambridge Science Festival 2015 Cambridge, Massachusetts college prep Harvard Secondary School Program • 7 weeks • Earn undergraduate credit in classes with college students • A residential experience, commuting option, or online classes Pre-College Program • 2 weeks • Explore a topic in depth with Harvard faculty or visiting scholars • On-campus housing with residential staff Programs for High School Students summer.harvard.edu/high-school-students presents A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC Songs of Electromagnetic Radiation Songs by David Haines, Michael Ching, Andrea Gaudette, Ruth Hertzman-Miller, Daniel Kallman, Dan Kohane, Bruce Lazarus, Tim Maurice, and Lauren Mayer Directed by Laura Backley Producer: Carla Procaskey Artistic Director: David Bass Piano ........................................................... David Haines Slideshow ................................................ Carla Procaskey Graphic Design ...................................................Sue Hall Website/IT Support ..................Nick Aiuto and Phil Budne Museum of Science: Sunday, April 19, 2015, 6:00pm Broad Institute: Saturday, April 25, 2015, 3:00pm Peabody School: Sunday, April 26, 2015, 3:00pm www.familyopera.org A Little Light Music: Singers and Artists North Cambridge Family Opera Festival Chorus Directed by Laura Backley Laura Backley Kathy Lindsay David Bass Tara McCaffrey Nadine Berenguier Glenn McElhoe Abbe Cohen Dvornik Julie McKinney Bert Dvornik Jeff Moore Katarina Dvornik Mary Penniston Luka Dvornik Carla Procaskey Chris Edel Ruth Rogers Emma Ehring Ellen Ryan* Fiona Ehring Tara Shankar** Susan Hall Uma Shankar Heather Hoffman Chris Siren Katie Julien Siren Allison Zucca Hope Kelley Maddy Zucca John Kernochan *Narrator in “Green Magic” **Soloist in “Refraction” Members of the South Devon Singers Directed by David Haines Willi Armes Rachael Shearmur Marion Brunsdon Richard Walford David Haines Students from the Cambridgeport School Students from the Martin Luther King, Jr. School Directed by Andrea Gaudette Thanks to those providing artwork for the slideshow! • students of Lolly Lincoln at the Fletcher Maynard Academy • students of Jeff Konigsberg at the Cambridgeport School • members of the NCFO Festival Chorus A Little Light Music: Order of Program ROY G BIV ............................................................................ Bruce Lazarus What’s in a Shadow?...............................................................Lauren Mayer Cosmic Microwave Background .............................................David Haines What Do You See, Butterfly? ................................................. Michael Ching Lyrics by Jennifer L. Knox Straight Lines ..........................................................................David Haines Earth’s Sweet Song ...............................................................Daniel Kallman Lyrics by Christine Kallman Invisible Colors ..................................................................Andrea Gaudette Looking at the Past ....................................................................Dan Kohane Lyrics by Colin Killick Songs from the Cambridge Public Schools 2014, by David Haines, with… – Lettuce in the Closet .......................................... Morse School, Grade 1 – Photosynthesong ............................. Vassal Lane Upper School, Grade 7 – Shadows .........................................................Peabody School, Grade 4 – Lights at Night ........................................King Open School, Grades 1/2 – Phases of the Moon ................................King Open School, Grades 3/4 – Lights through the Day .................................... Baldwin School, Grade 1 Green Magic ........................................................................ Michael Ching Poem by James Patrick Kelly Living Light .............................................................................David Haines Refraction ...............................................................................David Haines Lyrics by Rachael Shearmur The Ballad of Michelson and Morley ......................... Ruth Hertzman-Miller Lyrics by Meg Muckenhoupt Laser .......................................................................................David Haines Lyrics by Rachael Shearmur Sky Dance ...........................................................................Daniel Kallman Lyrics by Christine Kallman Doppler Shift ............................................................................Tim Maurice We Won’t Get Burned ............................................................Lauren Mayer With the exception of “Straight Lines” and “Living Light”, these pieces are all world premieres commissioned by NCFO for this performance. A Little Light Music: Program Notes ROY G BIV (world premiere) – Isaac Newton divided the visible spectrum into seven colors, identifiable by this acronym. Newton chose the number seven based on a mystical belief that the number of colors should match the number of notes in a musical scale, the number of days in the week, and the number of known objects in the solar system. What’s in a Shadow? (world premiere) – No program about light would be complete without a song about the absence of light and its three parts: the umbra (where the light source is completely blocked), the penumbra (where the light source is only partially blocked), and the antumbra (where the object causing the shadow is entirely within the light source). Cosmic Microwave Background (world premiere) – The night sky is full of microwave radiation left over from the Big Bang. The tiny irregularities in this radiation are indicative of the density contrast in the early universe, which ultimately led to the structure of today’s universe, from galaxy clusters to vegetable soup! What Do You See, Butterfly? (world premiere) – Some animals, such as butterflies, bats, cuttle fish, and cats, can see light wavelengths, intensities and polarization that we cannot. Straight Lines – The fastest thing in the universe, light always travels in a straight line. Even when apparently bent by large gravitational fields, such as those surrounding a black hole, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity shows that gravity actually curves space, not the path of the light. Earth’s Sweet Song (world premiere) – Earth’s temperature is determined by the balance between visible radiation from the sun and infrared that Earth radiates into space. Carbon dioxide profoundly affects that balance. Invisible Colors (world premiere) – We can see the colors of the visible spectrum, but not shorter wavelengths (such as ultraviolet) or longer wavelengths (such as infrared). Looking at the Past (world premiere) – Light travels unbelievably fast, but the universe is so large that it takes unbelievably long for light to travel between stars and galaxies. Songs from the Cambridge Public Schools, 2014 – A medley of six songs from David’s workshops in the Cambridge Public Schools, including: Lettuce in the Closet – plants need water and light to survive Photosynthesong – 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + sunlight = C6H12O6 (sugar) + 6 O2 Shadows – our atmosphere scatters light, making our shadows less dark Lights at Night – moon, stars, and fireflies! Phases of the Moon – new, crescent, quarter, gibbous, full, and back again Lights through the Day – our miraculous eyesight guides our day A Little Light Music: Program Notes, continued Green Magic (world premiere) – The alchemists’ dream of turning lead into gold doesn’t hold a candle to plants’ trick of turning carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into glucose and oxygen. Living Light – Fireflies are not the only bioluminescent life forms. An estimated 90% of deep sea life emits light. David Haines enjoys nighttime swimming in the English Channel, surrounded by bioluminescent algae. Refraction (world premiere) – sin(θ1) v1 n2 sin(θ2) v2 n1 This is Snell’s Law, which describes the path that light takes when it passes through a boundary between two media (like air and water). The Ballad of Michelson and Morley (world premiere) – The story of the most momentous failed experiment in the history of physics, in which the existence of an “ether” through which light traveled was proven false, paving the way for Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Sometimes failed experiments are more important than successful ones! Laser (world premiere) – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Quantum mechanics is our friend! Sky Dance (world premiere) – Auroras are caused when some charged particles of the solar wind escape the magnetosphere and enter the atmosphere, exciting the electrons of the oxygen and nitrogen molecules. As these electrons return to their normal state, they release light in the beautiful colors of the aurorae. Doppler Shift (world premiere) – As with sound, the wavelength and frequency of light change as an object moves toward or away from the observer. We Won’t Get Burned (world premiere) – Ultraviolet light is bad news for our skin, but sunscreen keeps most of it out. Sign up on the NCFO Mailing List to be notified about next year’s auditions and both opera and festival chorus performances! http://familyopera.org/mailinglist.html A Little Light Music: Biographies Laura Backley has been directing the children and adults of the NCFO Festival