October 6, 2025

We opened our Lansing Symphony mainstage season on Saturday night with a program that explored an intersection of science and mythology. On the mythological side, we offered Holst’s epic work “The Planets”. The title at first appears somewhat misleading in that I think most of us interpret that as an astronomical theme when actually Holst was inspired by the astrological side of these celestial bodies.  He was heavily into the zodiac, horoscopes and astrology at the time he conceived this work.
 
We did add an actual astronomical element to the Holst by displaying images from a project NASA created several years ago called “Cosmic Designs,” a melding of NASA imagery and animations of the planets with Holst’s music.  I had avoided that pairing for most of my career, feeling that it distracted the listener from focusing on the music, but those were my purist days, We already had the video setup and operator in place for the other work on the program, so it seemed a good time to explore this, and I’m glad we did.
 
The NASA images, while from a scientific institution, are also art in their own right especially in the realm of curation. The choices of images flow beautifully with the character of the music and the flow of the work, and they are awe-inspiring on their own. The end result is a different kind of orchestral concert experience. I also still think we should just play the music by itself sometimes too.
 
We were joined on this program by choirs from Michigan State University, and Lansing’s community choir known as the Choral Union. It’s an impressive collection of singers under the guidance of MSU professor Sandra Snow and her colleagues at MSU. A small group from those choruses joined us for the ethereal “Neptune” movement that closes the Holst work, but the entire combined choruses were featured in a work called “The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci” by the American composer Jocelyn Hagen.
 
Hagen’s work combines an elaborate video compilation of DaVinci’s painting and sketches, some of which actually become animated, with sung text from his notebooks. It is very attractive music and a visually appealing presentation. The video is run by a live operator on stage. He functions as a part of the orchestra, reading the music, and using newly-developed software that allows the video to actually follow the conductor rather than the way we normally have to do such things, meaning the conductor follows a click track or a clock, both musically limiting devices.
 
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this piece when I first heard it, but I’m glad I had the sense to trust Sandra’s advocacy of the work. It was clearly well received by the audience, and that explains why it has had over 50 performances since being written just a few years ago.
 
Before the concert I joined WKAR’s popular on-air host Jody Knol for the LSO’s pre-concert talk. Jody asked if I thought this (mixed media) was the wave of the future for classical music, and I told him I didn’t think it  was the only wave. It’s one of many waves as our art form continues to evolve in how we engage with our audience and community.
 
NEXT UP
 
November 7, 2025
 
Lansing Symphony Orchestra
Ray Chen, violin
7:30 p.m.
Wharton Center for the Performing Arts
East Lansing, Michigan
 
Zhou TIAN       A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
BRUCH            Violin Concerto
BARTOK           Concerto for Orchestra
 
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