PostClassical Ensemble to Present THE PALE BLUE DOT: A Musical Voyage Inspired By Nature

PostClassical Ensemble will launch its 2025-26 mainstage performance season with the presentation of The Pale Blue Dot: A Musical Voyage Inspired by Nature, with one performance on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 at 7:30pm at the Terrace Theater. Developed in collaboration with guest curators Enric Sala (National Geographic Explorer in Residence and Executive Director, Pristine Seas) and Kristin Rechberger (CEO, Dynamic Planet), the program will feature PCE conducted by Music Director Ángel Gil-Ordóñez, along with special guests, The Children's Chorus of Washington.

The Pale Blue Dot traces a path from wild, pristine landscapes to a degraded natural world that looks and sounds ominous, culminating in a vision of ecological rebirth and celebration. As with most PCE programs, audiences can expect narration and commentary from the stage and visual projections integrated with the music. Several musical works - including beloved selections by Edvard Grieg, Léo Delibes, and excerpts from Howard Shore's score to The Lord of the Rings - will be performed synchronously with high-definition video footage from National Geographic's Pristine Seas project.

Anchoring The Pale Blue Dot is a performance of Claude Debussy's La mer, in the American premiere of an arrangement for chamber orchestra by British conductor and arranger Joolz Gale, who has gained critical acclaim in Europe for his reimagining of symphonic masterpieces for smaller configurations. PCE's performance of La mer celebrates 120 years since its world premiere performance in 1905.

The concert also features selections from Virgil Thomson's original scores for two landmark New Deal documentaries from the 1930s, created to raise public awareness of environmental degradation and the promise of federal reform. The Plow That Broke the Plains examines the conditions that led to the Dust Bowl, while The River explores the ecological and economic significance of the Mississippi River and the devastating consequences of its flooding. PCE will perform Thomson's music, steeped in the soundscape of 1930s America and drawing from folk, jazz, and popular idioms, with the original films projected and a live narrator replacing the original voiceover. PCE previously released the world premiere recording of Thomson's complete scores for these films in 2007 (Naxos American Classics).

The Pale Blue Dot concludes with an original musical mashup by local Washington, DC composer Joel Friedman-a joyful surprise that unites all performers and reflects the concert's overarching theme.