Classical Goddard At The Clarice!
Getting Ready for a great night: Susan Pearl, Jesus Manuel Berard and Glenn Scimonelli at an interview with Prince George’s Suite Magazine & Media and PGCTV just before before a rehearsal in preparation of the celebration performance. PHOTO: RAOUL DENNIS // PRINCE GEORGE’S SUITE MAGAZINE & MEDIA.
Philharmonic Season-Finale Celebrates NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s 60th Anniversary
By D.A. Phillips // Photography By Raoul Dennis
Updated: May 17, 2019 10:00 a.m.
It’s going to be a very special night for lovers of space exploration and classical music.
On May 18, The Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts will be transformed into virtual space with awe-inspiring images of the planets (the seven planets known (besides Earth) when Gustav Holst wrote “The Planets”) in all of their amazing color. Two giants of Prince George’s County will present a historic performance bringing music and science together. A collaboration of sight—-with Goddard’s Office of Communications, and Scientific Visualization Studio—-and sound provided by the Prince George’s Philharmonic Orchestra.
The performance will be a wondrous multimedia marriage of turn of the century music in sync with video.
The presentation of “The Planets” includes the seven movements: Mars, The Bringer of War; Venus, the Bringer of Peace; Mercury, the Winged Messenger; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity; Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; Uranus, the Magician and Neptune, the Mystic.
And what better way to celebrate 60 years than with Prince George’s Philharmonic, an organization that has given Prince George’s County 53 seasons of musical enjoyment. Musical Director Jesus Manuel Berard takes up the baton to lead a full orchestra and the audience on this visually spectacular, musical journey. Berard recalls, “A couple of summers ago when I was thinking about this season, we had discussed the fact that it is the 60th Anniversary of the Goddard Space Flight Center. And right away I thought of doing “The Planets”. We were all actually on the same page.”
Both the music and Goddard Space Flight Center are reaching significant anniversaries. Berard explains, “One of the interesting things about programming this piece is that not only does it help us celebrate NASA Goddard’s 60th Anniversary, but it’s also the 100th Anniversary of the first performance of “The Planets” and that was back in September of 1918 so it is still the same season.”
Historian and Philharmonic Board President Susan Pearl added, “I have a special connection because my husband has been working at Goddard Space flight Center for over 40 years. He is a planetary scientist, so we were of course, very interested in the history of the planets, the stories of the planets, the astronomical, even the astrological stories about the planets. So this seemed the perfect occasion to perform this very special work on the 60th anniversary.”
Glenn Scimonelli, a percussionist with the Philharmonic, is producer and editor of the video that will be aired with the performance. He says: “We got together with Goddard’s communications department and their visualization department and they gave me a plethora of resources and I found other resources from scientific sites online and I put together a video.”
[When the lights go down and curtains go up]
"We are going to see a graphic depicting the ancient Roman god for whom each planet is named. And then as Manny [Berard] starts to conduct the orchestra, the visuals are going to accompany him. They are going to be coordinated with him as instruments hit on certain aspects of the music…we are going to go right through all the movements with those kinds of visualizations that are synchronized with the orchestra.”
Even the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center will be transformed to add to the atmosphere for the evening.
“The lobby, the walkways and the common areas will be modeled to showcase dazzling images, interactive options and historic discoveries for attending audiences,” says Pearl. “We are extending the time of intermission so that people can really enjoy the exhibit.”
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is located in Greenbelt, MD, and named in honor of Robert H. Goddard. Since May 1, 1959 beginning with 650 employees and continuing through today with more than 13,000 in the workforce who have dedicated their lives to space exploration, Goddard Space Flight Center continues the study of the earth, sun, solar system and beyond.
The list of contributions, accomplishments and notable scientists and engineers is unending. A visit to https://www.nasa.gov/goddard will enable viewers to grasp the magnitude of all that Goddard has given to aid in humanity’s understanding of what lies beyond the Earth.
In this final concert of the 53rd season, Prince George’s Philharmonic welcomes guest pianist Rita Sloan as the Philharmonic presents: Haydn: Introduction to The Creation, Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488, and “The Planets” Opus 32 by Gustav Holst.
Berard leading the Philharmonic.
Prince George’s Cable Television (PGCTV) and Prince George’s Suite Magazine and Media (pgsuite.com) are collaborating in coverage if this historic concert.
Prince George’s Cable Television’s interview with Berard, Pearl and Scimonelli aired May 13 (see above).
The concert begins at 7:30pm at the Dekelboum Theater at The Clarice Smith For the Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit theclarice.umd.edu
Watch this space for further updates and post-event coverage.
This story is developed in partnership with Prince George’s Cable Television’s Curtis Crutchfield, Producer Byron Scott and Videographer Erika Cumber
