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Apollo press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Kathryn Waters
T: 01934 832287
E: kw@sound-world.org

Countdown begins as In The Steps of Apollo 3D
is set to launch at We The Curious, Bristol

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, a brand new specially created 3D Planetarium show In The Steps of Apollo: from the first moon landing to the Universe beyond… is being launched at We The Curious. This unique new music show exploring the lunar landing and its ongoing legacy will première on Saturday 20th July, 50 years to the day after Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the surface of the moon. Following the première, it will be shown at planetaria across the UK, Europe and the world.

The brainchild of Julian Leeks (Bristol based composer and director of music charity Sound World) the show was developed by Sound World and the planetarium team at We The Curious. The result is a captivating show combining the best contemporary classical music (specially commissioned from five leading composers) and stunning, bespoke 3D visuals. Five astronomical journeys will take the audience from the observations of ancient stargazers, through the excitement of the 1969 mission to the farthest reaches of the Universe; revealing the beauty of the cosmos and our place within it.

In The Steps of Apollo is being shown in planetaria across the globe and the show will also be taken to schools and community centres in an STFC funded mobile dome tour.

Dr. Leeks commented:

“This project has been a fascinating experience for all of the composers. We really needed some very special music for this, music capable of standing alongside the beauty and mystery of the Universe! But we’re fortunate to work with some very fine composers and everyone has really risen to the challenge.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the quality of the music. We all attended a preview recently and it was wonderful – a genuinely unique and utterly absorbing experience.”

Anna Henley, Planetarium Developer at We The Curious said:

“Our state-of-the-art Planetarium allows us to visualise the latest astronomical data in a realistic and immersive simulation of the Universe – the perfect environment to explore 

the legacy of the Moon landings. We’ve made some beautiful sequences that will not only allow you to follow in the footsteps of those early astronauts, but also explore some of the more recent discoveries made by later space probes and telescopes, taking us across our Solar System, the Milky Way galaxy and beyond.”

In The Steps of Apollo is supported by Arts Council England, Ambache Charitable Trust, Foyle Foundation, International Astronomical Union, Science & Technology Facilities Council and University of Bristol.

In The Steps of Apollo will open on 20 July. Tickets cost £14.95/£12.95 concessions per seat for the July 20 50th celebration show, and £9.95/£8.95 concessions for subsequent shows.

To book tickets visit www.wethecurious.org or call the WTC Bookings team on 0117 915 1000 (Monday – Friday 9-5) for more information.

For information on shows at other planetaria or on the STFC tour, please contact Sound World at info@sound-world.org

ENDS

For further information about the music, the composers/performers (including images) or the inception of the project, please email Kathryn at kw@sound-world.org. Follow Sound World on Twitter and Instagram (@SoundWorld_UK) or visit sound-world.org

For further information, images, relating to the visual content or to arrange a press trip to We The Curious, please contact Jen Forster – Comms Manager, on 0117 9157 152/07967 334 152 or jen.forster@wethecurious.org

Editor’s notes:

About Sound World: 

Sound World is a new music and education charity born out of the successful non-profit organisation New Music in the South West. Our mission statement is Great Music for Everyone.

EVENTS & COMMISSIONS
We are committed to promoting concerts and commissions of the highest quality and taking them beyond the traditional concert going audience to communities who wouldn’t otherwise have access to great live music.

EDUCATION
We believe that music’s declining status within the educational system is completely at odds with the wealth of academic research demonstrating its broad social, cognitive and developmental benefits.

We aim to ensure that all children, regardless of background, have access to these benefits and have the opportunity and support to flourish.

PATRONS

Dame Evelyn Glennie CH, DBE

Armando Iannucci OBE

Prof. John Pickard

For more information please visit sound-world.org

About We The Curious: 

We The Curious was previously known as At-Bristol Science Centre; an educational charity with an aim to “make science accessible to all”, it opened in 2000, and welcomed over 5 million visitors in the past 17 years. At-Bristol relaunched as We The Curious in September 2017, with a new vision that is committed to creating a culture of curiosity. 

We The Curious is an idea and a place for everyone. Our venue on Bristol’s harbourside is a bit like an indoor festival, with all sorts of different experiences, where you can interact with exhibits, test stuff out and participate rather than just visit.  We’re all about empowering everyone to ask questions and get creative – with boundaries removed between science, art, people and ideas – a culture of curiosity.

The Planetarium is the UK’s first 3D digital Planetarium.

About the composers: 

Litha Efthymiou
Litha is a composer of contemporary classical music and a Bristol University PhD graduate. She has been commissioned to compose new work for numerous ensembles and organisations (including Ensemble Bash, Consortium 5, New Music in the  South West, the International Guitar Foundation, and many more) and enjoys collaborating with her twin sister Effy, also a composer, on large scale interdisciplinary work. She has been supported in this work by Arts Council England, PRS Women Make Music, the National Lottery, Hinrichsen Foundation, RVW Trust and the Wellcome Trust.

Sadie Harrison
Sadie is particularly well known for the socio-political aspects of her music-making, with many works challenging stereotypes of marginalised peoples – refugees, Afghan women, the deaf, the homeless – celebrating their creativity and individuality with powerful expressions of musical solidarity. Sadie is Composer-in-Association with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and her symphonic work Sapida-Dam-Nau was premièred by their Women’s Orchestra at the 2017 World Economic Forum. Her Rosegarden of Light has been used in several international films and documentaries (Australia, Kabul, USA) and several CDs dedicated to her work have been released to critical acclaim. Sadie’s work has recently been supported by two International Development grants from Arts Council England, a Finzi Trust Scholarship and a PRSF Composer’s Fund award.

Julian Leeks
Julian began his musical life as a songwriter, guitarist and singer with various Cheltenham-based rock bands before turning to a more formal study of music in his 20s. He subsequently undertook postgraduate studies at Bristol University graduating with a PhD in Musical Composition. Julian has written in various genres, including orchestral and choral music, songs, solo pieces and music for chamber ensemble. His compositional style reflects broad musical interests extending from renaissance polyphony to the contemporary avant-garde. Elements of world music, minimalism and the rock music of his early years also exert their occasional influence. Recent projects include collaborations with Bristol Ensemble, Kokoro (the new music ensemble of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra), St. George’s and Hauser & Wirth.

Michael Ellison
Michael’s music seamlessly fuses contemporary and traditional influences into a unique and personal idiom. His first opera, Mevlâna-Say I am You, broke new ground in transcultural music with its integration of traditional Turkish instruments into contemporary music. His second opera, Deniz Küstü, further develops this practice. Michael has been commissioned and performed by many high-profile groups and institutions including BBC Symphony Orchestra, Acht Brücken Festival, Radio France and Aspects des musiques d’aujourd’hui. He is Principal Investigator on the five-year, Bristol-based European Research Council project Beyond East and West: Developing and Documenting an Evolving Transcultural Musical Practice (2015-2020).

Richard Blackford
Richard began his musical career at the heart of the European avant-garde, working as assistant to Hans Werner Henze, one of the leading figures of 20th century music. Subsequent collaborations with poets Ted Hughes and Tony Harrison led to international film and theatre projects, including The Prince’s Play and Fram at the Royal National Theatre. Richard has developed considerable compositional range and this has enabled him to pursue a highly successful career in concert music, whilst also forging a career as a leading composer for film and television. His music is regularly performed and broadcast around the world. Recent highlights include The Great Animal Orchestra Symphony for BBC National Orchestra of Wales (a collaboration with soundscape recordist Bernie Krause), Niobe for the Czech Philharmonic and Kalon for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In 2015 he was awarded Die Goldene Deutschland, for services to music in Germany.

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