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

This composition – and its coupling with video by the NASA-Goddard media team – has received a surprising amount of attention over the past few weeks, 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 GLAST satellite). The NASA 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 GLAST Prelude music video is now featured at several places on the Internet, and will soon be 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. We've also included links to a few external websites that feature the work (to be updated as warranted), 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 GLAST can be found at: 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
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!