GUWAHATI: Assamese composer, singer and songwriter Joi Barua is part of an international creative collaboration that brings together astrophysics, music, animation and performing arts through the project “Cosmic Rhapsody”, which is connected with NASA’s Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) mission.
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The project combines live orchestral music, cinematic animation and pop songs to tell the story of a fictional Human and an AI travelling into space in search of solutions to Earth’s environmental crisis.
“Cosmic Rhapsody” was created by storytelling and songwriting duo Dr Susan Lim and Dr Christina Teenz Tan, with French composer Manu Martin serving as the chief composer, orchestrator and arranger of the larger orchestral work.
Barua’s contribution includes composing the melodies for two key songs, “Star Among the Cosmic Clouds” and “Confetti Storm”. He also co-composed “Confetti Star-Ion” with Manu Martin. The lyrics and story concepts for the songs were created by Susan Lim, while Martin handled the orchestration and arrangement.
The connection with NASA’s COSI mission emerged after the creators visited the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. The team found a scientific link between the project’s narrative and the COSI mission, which is designed to study soft gamma rays and investigate how elements are produced in supernovae.
The song “Star Among the Cosmic Clouds” centres on a dying star exploding and scattering elements into space, while “Confetti Storm” uses the imagery of stardust being released back into the universe. “Confetti Star-Ion” later evolved from the original “Confetti Storm”.
According to Barua, the scientific connection gave a deeper meaning to the songs, which were originally developed through poetry and music. He said the idea of a star sacrificing itself in a supernova and scattering its elements to help form new worlds provided the emotional basis for his melodies.
The project has another Assam connection through animator and director Samudra Kajal Saikia, who is responsible for the visual elements of the production.
Barua described the collaboration with Saikia as a significant part of the project, with music and animation being developed to portray the explosion of a star and the spread of cosmic stardust.
The collaboration also brought Barua together with Martin on “Confetti Star-Ion”. While Barua worked on the melodic and rhythmic elements, Martin developed the orchestration and arrangement, creating a transition from mission-control recordings into a larger symphonic and pop sequence.
“Cosmic Rhapsody” is scheduled for its US premiere at the Hollywood Bowl on July 27, 2027. The performance will be presented with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and will feature pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
The project is also linked to the upcoming launch of NASA’s COSI mission from Cape Canaveral. The mission, led by Principal Investigator Dr John Tomsick at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, is focused on studying gamma rays to better understand the origins of chemical elements produced in stellar explosions.
For Barua, the collaboration represents an opportunity to connect Indian music with a global project at the intersection of science and the performing arts. He said the project highlights how scientific ideas and creative expression can come together to explore questions about the universe.