SEASON 32 | 2025

Saturday | 8 March 2025 | 8:00pm

Plymouth United Church of Christ

1217 6th Avenue | Seattle

Sunday | 9 March 2025 | 7:00pm

Christ Episcopal Church

310 North K Street | Tacoma

In the first concert of its 32nd season, The Esoterics is excited to remount this project of astronomical proportion by German composer Michael Ostrzyga! Over the last decade and a half, Michael has composed and published a cappella choral works for each of the planets in our solar system – Mercurius, Venus, Mars, Iuppiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptunus – and arranged them into a cycle called Planets and gods. These pieces not only explore the astronomical and mythological aspects of each planet and the god or goddess for which they are named, they also examine where science and belief intersect. In this cycle, Ostrzyga’s music allows and invites the listener to create their own association with each planet or god(dess), drawing on whatever imagery they might remember, or knowledge they might have.

Planets and gods will be intertwined with a new series of miniatures, entitled Strange solar system bodies, a world premiere commissioned by The Esoterics. Each aphoristic piece of this new cycle focuses on a singular body in our solar system (dwarfs, moon, and asteroids), each of which sets itself apart in strikingly different ways. Some boast an obscure outer appearance, such as: the quickly-rotating and therefore oval-shaped dwarf-planet Haumea in the outer reaches; the potato-shaped asteroid Bennu, which passes dangerously close to Earth every six years; and Saturn’s moon Mimas, which, due to a gigantic crater in just the right spot, resembles a white version of the Star War’s "death star." Other bodies amaze in different ways, like the former dwarf-planet Pluto and its moon Charon, which form an eerie double-system with the center of gravity located outside of the former planet. Ostrzyga captures these features and mechanics of these “heavenly bodies” in a highly condensed manner, offering fascinating music almost entirely devoid of words.

The Esoterics had to postpone this program last October, and we are SO excited to perform this concert for you at long last. We hope you can join us for this fantastic concert!

CONCERT REPERTOIRE:

[All of the music in this program was composed by Michael Ostrzyga.]

Event horizon (2022)

Farout (2021)

Flight (2023)

Iuppiter (2007)

Mars (2022)

Mercurius (2010)

Neptunus (2018)

Saturn (2014)

Strange solar system bodies (2024, world premiere commission), including:

Bennu - Callisto - Enceladus - Halley's Comet - Haumea - Hyperion 

Io - Mimas - Oumuamua - Pan & Atlas - Pluto & Charon - Titan

Uranus (2020)

Venus (2022)