Inspired by NASA’s voyager 1 space mission, Irish musicians Elevation Ensemble bring together newly commissioned music, musical traditions from around the world, astronomy and visual art in glór, Ennis, Co. Clare on Dec 3rd.
On December 3rd, the space inspired tour marks the upcoming anniversary of sending a Golden Record to space in 1977 that contains greetings, images and music. Live in Co. Clare, audiences will enjoy live music inspired by the record along with re-imaginings of the music from the record itself.
The live music performance combines contemporary Irish music with musical traditions from Japan, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Benin, exploring the sounds and stories that represent life on Earth.
Speaking about what people can expect from the performance, Artistic Director Karen Dervan said:
“For 65 minutes, you’ll be “lost in space”, listening to beautiful, evocative music, learning about the Voyager space mission and absorbing stunning cosmic imagery that will make you contemplate the vastness of our universe….in a good way!”
Performed by violin, viola, cello, double bass and electronics, the concert moves between contemporary composition and musical traditions from across the globe, reflecting the diversity of sounds that NASA chose to represent humanity in 1977. The live music performance will feature live visuals creating an immersive experience while Brendan Owens, Astronomer Emeritus of the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, provides the astronomical context and narration so you don’t need to be too familiar with the topic to attend.
“We really want people to be inspired by this show to go and listen to all of the music that was put on the record. Carl Sagan and his team were so full of hope and optimism when they made this record – maybe we need to all reconnect with that hope and sense of endless possibility.” said Karen Dervan
Voyager 1 will have travelled further than any other human-made object on November 18th, 2026.
Alongside the concert tour, Elevation Ensemble is inviting the public to contribute to its What Would You Send? campaign, which asks a simple question: if you could send something into space to represent life on Earth today, what would it be?
Inspired by the Golden Record, the Irish musicians are collecting music, photographs, drawings, poetry, sounds and other creative submissions to create a new public time capsule.
It’s free to submit and submissions are open until the end of 2026, and everyone who takes part will receive a link to explore the completed collection on 20 August 2027.
Find out more or submit a contribution at www.elevationensemble.ie/what-would-you-send.