To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, the LA Phil announced a special concert at the Hollywood Bowl in partnership with Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several Hollywood composers. I was brought in to produce the show, which meant finalizing the show content, producing “playable” film clips for orchestra, and creating a narrative to tie the evening together.

By putting the moon landing itself at the end of the first act, I was able to balance the need for a historic lens with an aspirational second act about what American space travel might look like in the future. The show came together beautifully, with emotional impact driven by music, story, and just the right amount of patriotic pride.

Threading the needle between quality orchestral selections, compelling film scenes, and scientific integrity was challenging, so I used the spaces between the music to tie things together.

Our colleagues at JPL furnished wonderful archival material for original documentary sequences, as well as a guest appearance from one of their preeminent Mars rover specialists.