• Premiere: January 2021 / Voices of Ascension - Astronautica / Trio Triumphatrix: Lindsay Kesselman, soprano; Hai-Ting Chinn, mezzo-soprano; Kristen Sollek, contralto

• Instrumentation: three voices (soprano, mezzo-soprano & contralto, or any variation)

• Duration: 8:00

• Text: words by Cady Coleman, Eileen Collins, Christa McAuliffe, Anne McClain, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Ellen Ochoa, Judith Resnick, Sally Ride, and Stephanie Wilson

program note

I was in elementary school when the Challenger was lost; my parents were both schoolteachers, so when Christa McAuliffe’s triumph suddenly became tragedy, it was unimaginable. I didn’t realize until this Astronautica project how deep that moment went; as I considered how I’d approach the piece, that loss kept coming back to me over and over. But it came back with a sense of dignity and honor and reverence for what the crew had achieved in their lives, and the fierce commitment they had for their work. They inspired generations. And Christa McAuliffe was always at the center of that for me. to know about space takes shape around Judith Resnik’s words drawn from the operational recorder transcript of the Challenger launch interspersed with words by McAuliffe and Resnik drawn from the public record, expanding to fold in text by those whom they inspired, and those who inspire us, Cady Coleman, Eileen Collins, Anne McClain, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Ellen Ochoa, Sally Ride, Stephanie Wilson. The work is offered up humbly, as a tribute, in awe, and with thanks for their service. -GL