Dec. 27-28: Violinist Itamar Zorman in Music of the Spheres: A Concert Exploring the Connection Between Music and Space – Presented by The INTUITIVE® Planetarium
Violinist Itamar Zorman in Music of the Spheres
A Concert Exploring the Connection Between Music and Space
Presented by The INTUITIVE® Planetarium
at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 5pm
Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, December 28, 2025 at 5pm
Doors: 1 Hour Before Showtime
U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC) | One Tranquility Base | Huntsville, AL
Tickets and information
“There is a stunning sincerity and freshness in [Itamar Zorman’s] playing” – Violinist.com
Huntsville, AL – Internationally acclaimed violinist Itamar Zorman will give three performances of Music of the Spheres, an immersive live performance presented by The INTUITIVE® Planetarium at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL), in December. Music of the Spheres is a unique concert experience dedicated to exploring the connection between music and space. Zorman will give two performances on Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 5pm and 7:30pm, followed by a third performance on Sunday, December 28, 2025 at 5pm. Doors will open one hour prior to showtime for all three concerts.
Itamar Zorman is one of the most soulful, evocative artists of his generation, distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling. Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has wowed audiences all over the world with breathtaking style, causing one critic to declare him a “young badass who’s not afraid of anything.” His “youthful intensity” and “achingly beautiful” sound shine through in every performance, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions.”
In this awe-inspiring solo violin performance, Itamar Zorman will perform music with connections to space by an array of composers from across centuries of human history, accompanied by stunning visuals on the planetarium dome. Johann Sebastian Bach's Gavotte en Rondeau, which was chosen to represent humanity on the "Golden Record" –– a disk on the Voyager spacecraft containing sounds and images of earth –– is set to images taken by the Voyager on its journey through the solar system. Philip Glass' Knee Play 2 from Einstein on the Beach, is accompanied by animation of black holes, a phenomena Einstein had predicted in his General Theory of Relativity. Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune features a slow flight across the moon's surface. Louis Armstrong's Fly Me to the Moon is paired with stunning new images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Eugène Ysaÿe's L'Aurore is performed alongside footage of a supernova explosion, Missy Mazzoli’s Vespers for violin is set to breathtaking images of Nebulae, where new stars are born; and Bach’s Monumental Chaconne, constructed by the cell of a four-note descending bassline, is accompanied by a journey from Atoms to Galaxies.
David Weigel, Director of the INTUITIVE® Planetarium, describes the program as “a cosmic journey like no other.”
“Itamar came to us with this vision of putting together spectacular violin [music] with cosmic visualizations, crafted specifically to the songs he has chosen,” Weigel says. “Our team has worked with him to put together these immersive, cinematic visualizations for an elegant yet comfortable evening.”
Of the personal significance behind creating this program, Zorman says,
“Throughout the ages, the connection between music and space has sparked the curiosity of humans. The ancient Greeks celebrated the concept of Music of The Spheres, regarding the harmonic movement of celestial bodies as a form of music. Music and astronomy were both included in the medieval Quadrivium of liberal arts, and Johannes Kepler's 1619 book Harmonices Mundi discusses a celestial choir of planets.
As a fan of science fiction and popular science, I have always been curious about the emotions that the vastness and mysteries of the co3smos evoke in humans. By combining space imagery with music, I was hoping to go both outwards to the universe, and inwards, taking inspiration from Carl Sagan's famous quote: ‘The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself,’
This is also a program which travels across space and time like no other. I find it moving that we see images from billions of light years away, while listening to music written hundreds of years in the past. There is also an interesting gamut of human invention and instruments involved, as images taken by the recently launched James Webb telescope are partnered with music created by a Guarneri violin made nearly three hundred years ago.This is one of my artistic projects of which I am most proud. It is made for a wide audience, space-lovers and music-lovers alike. I couldn't have imagined a better partner for it than the team at the INTUITIVE® Planetarium of the US Space and Rocket Center, who have put as much work, creativity, and passion into it as I have.”
More about Itamar Zorman: Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Itamar Zorman has wowed audiences all over the world with his “youthful intensity” and “achingly beautiful” sound, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions”. Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist Itamar Zorman is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Mr. Zorman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, KBS Symphony Seoul, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Kremerata Baltica, RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), American Symphony. In 2024 he performed with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in their traditional televised Christmas concert, following the Pope’s blessing. He has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, David Robertson, Valery Gergiev, James DePreist, Karina Canellakis, Yuri Bashmet, and Nathalie Stuztmann. Mr. Zorman has performed around the world in halls such as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow.
As a recitalist he performed at Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debut series, Wigmore Hall, People’s Symphony Concerts, the Louvre Museum, Suntory Hall, and HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt. Mr. Zorman was invited to the Marlboro, Verbier, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, MITO SettembreMusica, and Radio France Festivals. He has also collaborated with several legendary artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Steven Isserlis and Jörg Widmann.
Mr. Zorman is currently on faculty at Indiana University's Jacob's School of Music. He plays on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù, from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Internationally acclaimed violinist Itamar Zorman is presented by The INTUITIVE® Planetarium at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Music of the Spheres, a unique concert experience dedicated to exploring the connection between music and space. Accompanied by stunning cosmic visuals displayed on the planetarium dome, Zorman will perform the music of several bold composers from throughout history, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Eugène Ysaÿe, Philip Glass, Claude Debussy,Missy Mazzol, and Louis Armstrong.
Concert details:
Who: Violinist Itamar Zorman
What: Music of the Spheres: A Concert Exploring the Connection Between Music and Space Featuring the Music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Eugène Ysaÿe, Philip Glass, and Missy Mazzoli
When:
Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 5pm
Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, December 28, 2025 at 5pm
Where: U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) One Tranquility Base Huntsville, AL 35805
Tickets and Information: https://www.rocketcenter.com/content/music-spheres-itamar-zorman2025
All images courtesy of the artist from a Music of the Spheres performance at The INTUITIVE® Planetarium in February 2025.