Dedicated to Dr. Peter F. Michelson and Mr. Pierre R. Schwob

This composition – and its coupling with video by the NASA-Goddard media team –received a surprising amount of attention (including over 100,000 views on YouTube) following its successful “premiere” on June 9, 2008 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, at a pre-launch reception co-sponsored by Stanford University and General Dynamics – the builders of the satellite. The Fermi (formerly GLAST) mission to study the gamma-ray sky was successfully launched on June 11, 2008 from Cape Canaveral, and Nolan and his family were among the lucky ones to experience this breath-taking event. The Fermi mission is now successfully opening a new window to the Universe, observing the highest energy forms, and answering persistent questions on a broad range of topics, including super-massive black-hole systems, pulsars, the origin of cosmic rays, and searches for signals of new physics.

The GLAST Prelude music video has been featured at several places on the Internet, and as well as the subject of a dedicated Web feature on the NASA website, as well as on NASA TV. In addition, there are already several articles on the composition, including one in the prestigious Science magazine – download here.

Given the success of the GLAST Prelude, Nolan thought it useful to dedicate a separate page to the work, where he can provide those interested with more detail on its origins, its brilliant performance by the American Brass Quintet, the interaction of music and video in collaboration with NASA Goddard, the relationship between art and science, and the forthcoming companion work, Cosmic Reflections – to be premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. in fall, 2009, in conjunction with the GLAST Symposium held in that city. See News / Events for more on this exciting upcoming concert. We've also included links to a few external websites that feature the work, photos of the launch, etc

Pierre Schwob, Nolan, Dr. Steven Ritz (GLAST Project Scientist), Dr. Peter Michelson
(Principal Investigator, LAT instrument) at GLAST pre-launch party, Cocoa Beach, FL,
June 9, 2008, where GLAST Prelude music video was premiered.

Click HERE to download a full written description of the GLAST Prelude – its origins, techniques, aesthetic, etc., as well as information on the forthcoming Cosmic Reflections – given in the context of Nolan's detailed answers to a set of questions posed by NASA journalist Bill Steigerwald for his web feature on these works, the link for which is found below.

General information on the Fermi (formerly GLAST) mission can be found at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/main/index.html glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Internet Sources on GLAST Prelude for brass quintet, Op.12

DOWNLOADS AND STREAMS OF THE MUSIC VIDEO:
High-resolution Download from NASA: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?10251
Low-resolution Download from NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/main/ and http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/GLAST_musicvid_080610.html
Low-resolution Stream from YouTube (feel free to post a review!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJfJyI8f7OU&feature=related

USE OF THE MUSIC IN OTHER MULTI-MEDIA ITEMS:
Download of GLAST video, produced by Stanford (featuring Dr. Peter Michelson and Dr. Bill Atwood), featuring music from the GLAST Prelude as underscore: https://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/BrowsePrivately/stanford.edu.1273207498.01573046187.1572719444?i=1515321422

WEB AND PRINT REFERENCES TO THE GLAST PRELUDE:
NASA website: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/glast_composition_prt.htm
CNET: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10010988-76.html
MSNBC: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/27/1172849.aspx
USAToday: http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/
Discovery Channel News: http://blogs.discovery.com/twisted_physics/2008/07/glast-nost.html
Science Magazine, Vol.321 (July 11, 2008), p.183 (download article as .PDF)
CNET: article forthcoming
Symmetry Magazine (co-published by SLAC and Fermilab); on a recent GLAST celebration at SLAC: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2008/07/02/glast-launch-celebration/
SLAC Today: http://today.slac.stanford.edu/a/2008/06-30.htm
Stanford News Service: http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-glast-061808.html
American Brass Quintet Website: http://www.americanbrassquintet.org/gamma.htm
SatNews.com: http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/display_story.cgi?number=1004673643

OTHERS COMING SOON!

Listen to GLAST PRELUDE

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