NANCY ATLAS - LIVING LARGE AND PLAYING HARD

OCTOBER 12, 6:30 PM.

Nancy Atlas makes a rare North Fork appearance at Custer Observatory. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

Nancy Atlas and her band have been dominating the East End Music scene for quite some time. Known for her raw, live performances and stellar songwriting Nancy and her band have opened for almost everyone under the sun. To name a few: Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Buffett, Crosby, Stills and Nash… the list goes on and on.

Sweating alongside Nancy Atlas on any given night is her right-hand men of 27 years, Johnny Blood on Lead Guitar and Brett King on Bass. In the spring of 2023, the incomparable NYC powerhouse Denny McDermott joined in on Drums, Greg McMullen on Pedal Steel, and Killer Joe Delia paired off on keys, organ, and back up vocals. Together they have been reigniting a band that has been throwing down for over a quarter of a century and based on the last year of shows… there is no end in sight any time soon!

Note: This will be a rain or shine event! We hope to hold the event outdoors under the North Fork night sky, so plan to bring a blanket or chair to enjoy the show. However, if rain is in the forecast, we will hold the concert inside our Observatory Hall in an intimate setting with very limited seating. Due to the seating restriction indoors, we will be offering VIP tickets only at this time and will open up additional ticket opportunities as the event approaches and the weather allows. A VIP ticket will guarantee you a spot regardless of the weather, and if held outside, you will have a front row seat to the concert! We will open ticket sales back up for general admission the week of the concert, once we can confirm the weather for an outdoor show. If you're not able to get a VIP ticket, check back in with us later to reserve your seat! We'll make every effort to accommodate as many as we can for this not-to-be-missed show!

Following the concert, Observatory staff will provide guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through our many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in our historic observation dome.

$50 VIP Ticket, $35 General Admission, $25 Observatory Members, Children Under 16 FREE. Attendance to this performance is extremely limited at this time- reserve your seats early! General Admission tickets will go on sale the week of the show if the weather permits.

FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH 

OCTOBER 5, 6:30 PM.

Explore our connections to the natural world through music of contemporary composers in this intimate performance!

In this era of climate crisis, when caring for our fragile planet is more important than ever, how can music play a role? The works being performed tonight, old and new, portray our connections to the natural world. This program inspires an appreciation of Earth’s beauty, and offers an oasis for reflecting on our commitment to its stewardship. It includes new music by contemporary composers Roberto Sierra and Laura Kaminsky, and beautiful gems from the first half of the 20th century by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Grant Still, and Margaret Bonds. Each piece depicts a different natural landscape, or uses imagery from the natural world in an abstract or metaphorical way.

This intimate concert will be held inside our Observatory Hall with limited seating.

Following the concert, Observatory staff will provide guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through our many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in our historic observation dome.

$30 Adult, $20 Observatory Members, Children Under 16 FREE. Attendance to this performance is extremely limited- reserve your seats early!

​Program

Roberto Sierra: Sonata para Violin y Piano
William Grant Still: Pastorela (violin and piano)
Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water (solo piano)
Laura Kaminsky: Undercurrent (violin and piano)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, arr. Maud Powell: Deep River
Alberto Ginastera: Pampeana No. 1

Kyle P. Walker, a renowned pianist known for his passionate dedication to using music as a tool for addressing societal concerns, stands at the forefront of a musical movement. His career has garnered critical acclaim, with notable performances featured on prestigious media outlets like NPR, WQXR, and PBS. He has graced renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Apollo Theater, and international stages from Australia's Tantaloona Cave to the Adelaide Town Hall.

In a pivotal moment, Walker's 2023 solo performance marked the debut of classical piano music at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX, making waves in the industry. He is also the pianist of Dara + Kyle, a groundbreaking piano/cello duo recognized with the 2021 Chamber Music America "Ensemble Forward" career grant, devoted to championing underrepresented composers. Kyle is an integral part of The Harlem Chamber Players, bringing classical music to diverse communities, and a founding member of The Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra supporting NYC-based civil rights organizations.

As an instructor, Walker shares his expertise as a member of piano artist faculty at New York University, the Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center, and The Artist Program at Suzuki on the Island. He engages students and community members in discussions about arts activism and curriculum diversity, reflecting the communities they serve. With a strong commitment to fostering musical talent, Kyle Walker's impact extends far beyond the concert stage, and his unique fusion of J.S. Bach's compositions with those of neglected composers resonate deeply with issues of oppression and inequality. To discover more about his musical journey, visit www.kylewalkerpiano.com.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, violinist Emily Kalish creates emotionally transformative experiences for audiences. She has designed imaginative programs that capture a moment in history (a concert of music all written or premiered in 1924, complete with period costumes and a vintage jazz band for dancing), as well as programs of music by 20th and 21st century women and concerts of music that sits at the crossroads of jazz and classical.

With her duo partner pianist Kyle Walker, she has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Storm King Arts Center, New York Society for Ethical Culture, WNYC’s The Greene Space, Erie Cultural Council (PA), and Dayton University’s Social Practice of Human Rights Conference (OH).

​Since its founding in 2015, Ms. Kalish has been performing and producing chamber music for The Dream Unfinished, an organization that engages audiences with issues of social justice and civil rights through classical music. The Dream Unfinished offers performances of works by under-represented composers in partnership with activists and community organizations.

For 10 years she was a member of The Binghamton Philharmonic and for 8 years, a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Emily has subbed with many other ensembles in the region. She holds a master’s in violin performance from Manhattan School of Music, and a bachelor’s degree from the Hartt School.

A committed educator, Emily is on the faculty at Concordia Conservatory of Music in Bronxville, NY and co-founded the Williamstown Orchestra Workshop (WOW!), a non-competitive, creative summer program for students of stringed instruments. She offers master classes and workshops in addition to her mainstage performances.

For The Beauty Of The Earth Tickets, Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 6:30 PM 

EXPLORING AND NAVIGATING THE AUTUMN NIGHT SKY

SEPTEMBER 21, 7:30 PM. 

Learn how to explore and navigate the autumn night sky, including the fall constellations and stories behind them!

As summer winds down and Autumn approaches, a new host of celestial wonders graces the night sky. Staring up at the star-filled sky is awesome and humbling. It can also be overwhelming and disorienting. Throughout history, the night sky has served many functions to humanity- a clock, a calendar, a compass, a map, and even a storybook. Join stargazing lecturer Randall DiGiuseppe of the Custer Institute & Observatory for an evening of learning the basics of navigating the night sky and the locations and the folklore behind the most prominent constellations of the Fall.

Learn how to spot the North Star, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the stories behind Autumn’s most popular constellations. You will learn your way around the night sky and how to use it to orient yourself from almost anywhere on Earth.

This event is being held outdoors and is open to everyone. Just bring an inquisitive mind, a blanket or chair and your imagination.

Randall DiGiuseppe is a professional artist, lecturer, telescope builder and amateur astronomer for over four decades. He is a lifetime member of the Custer Institute and Observatory and recipient of the Astronomical League’s Messier Award. He conducts lectures on the dynamics, history and art of the night sky throughout the country.

Following the presentation, Observatory staff will provide guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through the many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in our historic observation dome.

$5 Adult, $3 Children Under 16, Observatory Members FREE. Due to limited space, registration is strongly encouraged. Note: this is a weather-permitting event and will be rescheduled as needed based on weather.

Please bring a blanket or chair to enjoy the presentation.

JULY 27, 7:00 PM. 
THE RITES OF SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL presents SPIRIT IN THE MACHINE.

The Rites of Spring Music Festival returns to Custer Institute in their 9th season bringing contemporary music to our historic observatory!

Inspired by the writings of composer Marc Mellits of the saxophone quartet functioning as one machine powered by four individuals, this program highlights contemporary works for the ensemble influenced by funk, soul, post-minimalism; all with a lyrical tone that fuses with earlier works from the chamber music/classical canon that highlight a full palette of compositional and instrumental colors.

“Virtuosic to the core” (Textura) and hailed as “a tight-knit ensemble exploding with power and virtuosity” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), the Sinta Quartet is on a mission to bring the versatility, homogeneity, and excitement of the saxophone to audiences everywhere. Strengthening an already palpable connection with its audience by performing entirely from memory, the quartet provides a fresh take on chamber music that is at once beautiful, virtuosic, and a completely interactive experience.

Following the concert when the skies are dark, Observatory staff will provide guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through our many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in our historic observation dome.

$40 Adult, $30 Custer Observatory Members and Friends of R o S, Children Under 16 FREE. Attendance to this in-person performance will be limited - reserve your seats early! Due to the outdoor nature of this program, a rain date will be scheduled as needed.

Please bring a blanket or chair to enjoy this outdoor presentation.

Program

Chris Hass (b. 1993) Volcanic Ash (2017) (8 minutes)
*Winner of 2017 DSQ Composition Competition

Perry Goldstein Motherless Child Variations(12 minutes)

Marc Mellits (b. 1966) Ex Machina (2017) (17 minutes)
Machine I (let the funk out)
Machine II (flowing)
Machine III (not quite, but almost pensive; sunflowers in love)
Machine IV (dancing a mean ghastly dance)
Machine V (the morning after)
Machine VI (flowing, lyrical, & songlike
Machine VII (aggressive & funky)

-Intermission-

David Biedenbender (b. 1984) Cerulean (2017) (14 minutes)
I. Sirens
II. Lullaby
III. Goof Groove

J. S. Bach (1685 – 1750)/Graser
Selections from Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 (post. 1751) (8 minutes)

John Mackey (b. 1973) Unquiet Spirits (2012) (12 minutes)
I.
II.
III.

Dan Graser, Soprano Saxophonist

Zach Stern, Alto Saxophonist

Joe Girard, Tenor Saxophonist

Danny Hawthorne, Baritone Saxophonist

The Sinta Quartet injects music and fun into the air for unsuspecting passersby by appearing in nontraditional venues such as grocery stores, bars, and other public places, but they have also performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and the Beijing Center for the Performing Arts. Since forming in 2010 as soloists for a tour of China with the University of Michigan Symphony Band, the quartet has concertized in 9 countries, 32 states, and 2 Canadian provinces, giving diverse audiences a chance to experience a classical saxophone quartet for the first time. The Sinta Quartet made history in 2013 as the first saxophone ensemble to win the Victor Elmaleh First Prize from the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and continued to achieve success on the competition circuit, winning the Gold Medal at the 2018 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, the Alice Coleman Grand Prize at the 2013 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and 1st Prize at the 2012 North American Saxophone Alliance Competition.

The quartet’s programming takes the audience on an adventure through time, geography, and genre, often mixing classics from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries with commissions by today’s composers and rollicking in-house arrangements from various folk traditions. In addition to their live performances, the quartet recently released two albums featuring predominantly recent commissions and winning pieces from Sinta Quartet’s annual National Composition Competition. The first, Collider, hailed as, "An exciting ride! The ensemble, intonation, and technique in this recording are beyond question" (The Saxophonist Magazine), was released in 2019, and the second, Ex Machina, which was praised as “tightly performed and flawlessly recorded in generous, in-your-face sound” (Musical America), was released in 2020.

JUNE 1, 7:00 PM. 
THE RITES OF SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL
presents
NEW MUSIC UNDER THE BIG SKY

JUNE 1, 7:00PM.  THE RITES OF SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL presents NEW MUSIC UNDER THE BIG SKY.

New Music Under the Big Sky will take you on a journey to create an immersive musical evening like nothing you have experienced before!

This performance features the Rites of Spring Ensemble, a new group that embodies the spirit of the new music culture and is dedicated to performing innovative, collaborative, and exciting works of living composers and the contemporary works from composers of the recent past. Whether you're a classical lover or a lover of extraordinary experiences, Music in The Sky pushes the boundaries of a traditional music event. This program presents a very exciting evening of music and stargazing! New Music Under The Big Sky aims to bring people together and focusing on what is happening today in the global arts world. Come and slow down with us, be immersed with music, lights and stars!

Following the concert when the skies are dark, Observatory staff will provide guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through our many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in our historic observation dome.

$40 Adult, $30 Custer Observatory Members and Friends of R o S, Children Under 16 FREE. Attendance to this in-person performance will be limited - reserve your seats early! Due to the outdoor nature of this program, a rain date will be scheduled as needed.

Please bring a blanket or chair to enjoy this outdoor presentation.

Program

Jongo by P. Bellinati
Melodia Sentimental by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Gabriele Leite, guitar

Serenade by Lou Harrison
I. Round
II. Air
III. Infiniite Cannon
IV. Usul - "Little Homage to Sinan"
V. Sonata
Gabriele Leite, guitar
Eduardo Leandro, Percussion

Dressur by Mauricio Kagel
Renan Proenca, Percussion I, Eduardo Leandro, Percussion II, Khesner Oliveira, Percussion III

R o S Ensemble is a collectively organized group of musicians dedicated to performing classical music and creating new artistic works at the highest level. Based on the East End of Long Island, the ensemble is committed to the idea that new music belongs in every community and implements this mission through touring and outreach to connect with audiences and artists, focusing specifically on bringing music to locations out of the reach of many music organizations. Created by founder Paolo Bartolani, pianist and artistic director of Rites of Spring Music Festival, R o S Ensemble is dedicated to connecting communities across the East End of Long Island and the United States through the development and performance of music across the country. This ensemble explores, performs and studies new concepts of notation, extended performing techniques, group improvisation and group composition, including other aspects of performance centered around the latest developments in sonic art. Their experience is extensive: from creating and performing music in unconventional venues, to site-specific projects that combine music, natural environment, and history, to collaborating with like-minded artists, performers, and thinkers, and offering a platform for all whose work demands it.

Comets, Meteors and Things that Fly by Us: An Electronic Music Event

Join us for this live multi-media performance outdoors below a dark North Fork sky at the peak of the Perseid Meteor shower!

By Custer Institute and Observatory

The Axolotl Ensemble will bring their extraordinary talents to Custer Observatory, creating an event filled with sonic richness and visual surprises. Artists, Cliff Baldwin and Rob Shepperson will perform works composed and designed specifically for this event, that reveal the unique sound of the Perseid meteors, icy asteroids and other such celestial visitors past and present using live electronics, amplified satellite dishes, percussion, live celestial video and other treats. The Perseids will be in full view during the show, weather permitting, and will be visible to the naked eye.

Following the concert, guests will have a chance to view the Perseid Meteor shower, visible to the naked eye. Observatory staff will also provide guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through the many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in our historic observation dome.

$30 Adult, $20 Observatory Member, Children Under 16 FREE. Attendance will be limited so advanced registration is strongly encouraged. A rain date for this program is scheduled for August 19 at 8:00pm.

Please bring a blanket or chair to enjoy this outdoor presentation.

About the Artists

Cliff Baldwin is a resident artist, composer, designer, and filmmaker on the North Fork and has been creating electronic music for over 45 years. He is the founder of the Aquebogue Contemporary Music Ensemble [ACME], a group devoted to contemporary electronic music, that was featured in the Rites of Spring Music Festival from 2016-2019 on the North Fork of Long Island.

Some of Cliff's compositions include "The Kepler Music" performed at Custer Observatory in 2016, "ASTRI" and "LIGO-A-GOGO", outdoor sound and video mixes that debuted at the Observatory in 2020, and "Voicing the Caldwells", live 4-channel electroacoustic video piece which debuted at the Observatory in 2021. Cliff's "Damn Epic Pandemic" live mixes streamed throughout 2020 from his studio garden. And he recently composed and debuted "BLACK LOCUST: Solo for Locust Tree and Electronics" at Guild Hall in East Hampton.

As an artist, Cliff founded the large format artist publication AQUI! in the early nineteen eighties working with artists like Barbara Kruger, Gilbert & George, Les Levine and General Idea. For 17 years he orchestrated large scale installations and created multiples with Fluxus artist Davi Det Hompson as the artist duo Baldwin+Hompson. His latest architectural project, SHAVILION was built in 2022 in Aquebogue.

Cliff's work has been exhibited in Tokyo, Cologne, Berlin, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and New York, and is in several major museum collections around the world including collections at the The Museum of Modern Art, The Walker Art Center, The Museum of The Art Institute of Chicago, The National Gallery of Canada and The Museum of Rhode Island School of Design. 

Drummer Rob Shepperson is a founding member, along with Mikel Rouse and Jeff Burk, of the pop group Tirez Tirez, which was active in the 1970s and 80s. When Rouse formed the new music ensemble Broken Consort, Rob contributed percussion and drum set parts. Currently, he is a member of the improv music group Strange Pools, based in Croton on Hudson, N.Y. Rob and Cliff Baldwin have been collaborating musically and visually ever since they met at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1978.

The Rites of Spring Music Festival presents New Music Under the Big Sky

Christopher Morrongiello

GALILEO’S LUTE

Although Galileo’s scientific achievements are widely known, the legendary "father of modern science" was a member of a distinguished family of musicians and was himself an accomplished player of the lute, the most important household instrument of the Renaissance.

In celebration of Galileo's musical family and upbringing, world-renowned lutenist Dr. Christopher Morrongiello will perform a magnificent recital featuring works composed by Galileo's father and brother (Vincenzo and Michelangelo Galilei, respectively), and their distinguished contemporaries (Francesco da Milano, John Dowland, and Emmanuel Adriaenssen). His recital will be played on an authentic, gut-strung Renaissance lute and presented in the unique acoustical splendor of the Custer Observatory dome. This intimate recital promises to be a most memorable experience. Not to be missed! Come hear the instrument that Renaissance humanists thought was perfectly able to evoke the harmony of the spheres.

Lutenist Christopher Morrongiello, a former British Marshall Scholar, is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music, Royal College of Music, and University of Oxford, where he earned a doctorate in musicology. As a recitalist, he has performed to critical acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. In 1993 he was a prizewinner in the BBC Radio Two Young Musician of the Year Competition, and in 1996 awarded a Marco Fodella Foundation Scholarship for studies and research in Milan, Italy.  

Morrongiello is a professor in music history at Hofstra University and teaches lute and related historical plucked instruments in his private studio in Long Island. He is a member of the Venere Lute Quartet and directs the New York-based Bacheler Consort. He is a frequent guest artist of many leading early music groups. He is also Artistic Director of the Long Island Early Music Festival, now entering its 4th season.

Morrongiello has recorded for EMI, Avie Records, Gamut Music, the Lute Society of America, Visionaire, and the BBC. Recently, the Metropolitan Museum of Art produced several video recordings of his playing on a gut-strung, sixteenth-century lute, as well as on copies of lutes, in its renowned musical instrument collection. Stargazing (weather permitting) will follow the concert.

BLOW UP HOLLYWOOD presents DUST FROM THE STARS

This critically-acclaimed group will perform works from their newest, unreleased album which reflects on the cosmos and our journey and genesis from stardust to our current state of being.  Fittingly, this concert occurs as the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower nears, when the Earth passes through the dust left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle.  This dramatic meteor shower can be viewed with the naked eye.  Following the concert (weather permitting), guests will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse at the burning dust from Comet Swift-Tuttle as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere (bring a blanket or chair) and to look through the many telescopes on site, guided by expert staff.

Blow Up Hollywood is an underground American ambient art-rock collective.  Their eclectic sound, built over a decade of recording, incorporates many different styles, diverse as progressive rock, post-rock, experimental, pop, classical, jazz and ambient soundscapes.  Blow Up Hollywood has created an expansive and adventurous body of work that manages to be both highly emotionally charged and majestically anonymous.

Grammy-award winning flutist Tim Munro performs a solo flute concert with electronics accompaniment in the theme of finding comfort in a world of craziness. The first five short-ish pieces will be like prayers (calm, meditative), preparing the audience for composer Christopher Cerrone's final piece 'Liminal Highway', which takes the listener on more dramatic journey.Christopher Cerrone conjures sonic environments. His magnetic music surrounds listeners, painting landscapes, bringing to the surface raw emotions. This program provides a snapshot of the composer through new and in-progress works. In the course of one hour performance, the audience will hear the flute, guitar, beer bottles and song.Liminal Highway, written by Cerrone for flutist Tim Munro, evokes the sensation of this moment. Layer upon layer of flute sounds shimmer, pulse and glow, creating a radiantly beautiful sonic mirage.

Program 

Chris Cerrone Memory Palace (excerpt) 3' 

Eve Beglarian I will not be sad in this world 7'

Chris Cerrone Memory Palace (excerpt) 3'

Tim Munro love/game 7'

Chris Cerrone Memory Palace (excerpt) 3'

Intermission 

Chris Cerrone Liminal Highway 22' 

Tim Munro is a Chicago-based, double-Grammy-winning musician. His diverse work as a flutist, speaker, writer and teacher is united by a single goal: to draw audiences into an engrossing and whimsical musical world.Winner of a 2015 Rome Prize and a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize, the Brooklyn-based composer Christopher Cerrone is internationally acclaimed for compositions which range from opera to orchestral, from chamber music to electronic. Throughout, his music is characterized by a subtle handling of timbre and resonance, a deep literary fluency, and a flair for multimedia collaborations.

Stargazing (weather permitting) will follow.$25 Advance/$30 at the door. $10 Student 13-18. Children under 13 - Free.

learn more about the Rites of Spring Music Festival visit www.ritesmusic.org.

(percussionists) @ RoSMF 2018

celtic harp recording artist

STEINWAY & STARGAZING featuring CHAMBEROSITY

This musical program is the first in the Steinway & Stargazing summer series.  Following the concert will be a reception and private evening of stargazing (weather permitting) through the Custer Observatory's powerful telescopes and guided by Observatory staff. 

Program:

Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn - Eric Ewazen

Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano - Peter Winkler

Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano, Op.28 - Joseph Holbrooke

Enjoy an outdoor reception under a beautiful star-themed tent following the concert with wine tasting sponsored by Laurel Lake Vineyards and passed hors d'oeuvres by Grace & Grit Catering. Stargazing at nightfall.

Chamberosity began its existence as the Long Island Chamber Players in the early 1990s, when Linda Sinanian, Jeffrey Forden and Christine Doré started playing chamber music together. Chamberosity was quickly recognized for the joy-giving communicative quality of its playing. The critically acclaimed trio has been the ensemble-in-residence at the Stony Brook Summer Music Festival, the Music At Greenlawn concert series and the Siena Spirituality Center in the Hamptons. Over the years, Chamberosity has organized travel around the globe for students of Protégé International, a traveling summer music festival based on the “work- hard- play –hard- while –creating- lifelong -memories” mantra by which the group’s members have always lived. Chamberosity is dedicated to the vast and rich chamber music repertoire. The ensemble frequently expands its roster with guest artists, which creates a unique instrumental flexibility. This allows the group to present varied and diverse chamber music programs, from standard repertoire to often overlooked and rarely performed treasures. Chamberosity has commissioned two trios, one from Eric Ewazen and one from Peter Winkler which will be performed as part of the evenings program.

Tickets: $75 in advance / $95 at the door

The Music Project is an arts and humanities program within the organization trusted with nurturing and embracing community diversity and uniqueness, with a special focus on musical and performing arts. Through a series of concerts and performances the Music Project provides a threefold educational purpose: 1) to provide firsthand experience of music, songs and dances of other cultures, 2) to explore the inextricable connection between music and science and 3) to offer a glimpse at the stars through the many telescopes on site with assistance from expert staff. The Music Project allows the entire community to join in the educational experience where culture, music and science meet.