Cosmic Symphony

Join celebrated composer Eric Whitacre for a celestial journey exploring the outer reaches of our Solar System, with a screening of Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of our Universe, inspired by the iconic images captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Through film, short talks and a panel discussion with leading astrophysicists, psychologists and engineers from Thales Alenia Space, discover how we experience space and develop technologies to unlock the Universe’s deepest mysteries. You’ll hear about NASA’s missions looking for signs of life and local companies at the forefront of robotic lunar and Martian exploration, developing the first human outpost on the moon.

From the psychological challenges of space travel and eating in orbit, to the role of music and multisensory design, Prof Charles Spence explains how our senses shape our perception of unfamiliar environments — and what it might take to feel at home in space. Dr Kya Sorli takes us to icy moons, asteroids and comets, searching our Solar System for conditions that could support life beyond earth. Venture to the furthest reaches of the Universe with Dr Héloïse Stevance, where AI is helping astronomers sift millions of signals to uncover exploding stars, black holes and new cosmic mysteries. Expect music, film, big questions and extraordinary science.

Ticketing: Pay What You Decide (PWYD)
Event format: FILM, MUSIC & PANEL DISCUSSION
Event duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Age: All ages
Event start: 5.15pm

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Eric Whitacre: Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre is among today’s most popular musicians. A graduate of The Juilliard School (New York), his works are performed worldwide, and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united well over 100,000 singers from more than 145 countries. Among his recent accolades and awards, Eric received the Richard D. Colburn Award from the Colburn School and an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Chapman University (California).

Eric is currently Musician in Residence at Somerville College, Oxford University. He is also an Ambassador for the Royal College of Music in London and is proud to be a Yamaha artist. Eric has given keynote addresses for many Fortune 500 companies, in education and global institutions from Apple and Google to the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Speaker’s Program. He premiered a new version of “Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of our Universe” at SXSW Austin in 2026. https://ericwhitacre.com/

Professor Charles Spence is Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. His research explores how our senses combine to shape perception and experience, from food and flavour to environments and technology. His work has also explored the human experience in space, astronaut nutrition and gastrophysics, and the challenges of designing multisensory environments beyond Earth. He has conducted research on human-computer interaction issues on the crew workstation on the European Space Shuttle, and continues to investigate optimised food and drink options for extreme environments like spaceflights. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/find-an-expert/professor-charles-spence

Dr. Kya Sorli is a planetary scientist at the University of Oxford. Her research explores worlds across our Solar System, from potentially dangerous asteroids to the icy moons Europa and Enceladus, which hide vast oceans beneath their surfaces. Using models and spacecraft data, she investigates these distant worlds and whether they could support life. She works with international spacecraft missions, including NASA’s Europa Clipper, and loves sharing the wonder and excitement of exploring space.

Dr Heloise F. Stevance is a Schmidt AI in Science Fellow building Machine Learning systems for some of the large sky surveys in the world. Her science interests focus on Supernova explosions. She was awarded the 2024 Caroline Herschel Lectureship Prize (Royal Astronomical and Herschel Society) for her contribution to Astrophysics. She is also an award-winning science communicator, having received the 2021 Beatrice Tinsley Award from the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand.
https://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/about/fellows/heloise-stevance/

Thales Alenia Space is a global space company delivering advanced technologies for exploration, telecommunications and Earth observation. Its UK and European teams are contributing engineering expertise to ambitious programmes including ESA’s Argonaut lunar lander and NASA’s Artemis program. Dr Lucia Rodriguez Roces explains the engineering capabilities needed to explore space and put a foothold on the moon. Lucia has a Masters in Aerospace Engineering with a background in performance simulation of propulsion systems for civil aviation and space across Spain, France and the UK. She currently leads the Chemical Propulsion team in Harwell where they design, model and validate the satellite propulsion systems that enable up and coming missions. https://www.thalesaleniaspace.com/en

Friday 16 October, 8pm: Eric Whitacre – Eternity in an hour (in the Oliver Hall, St Edward’s School, Oxford)
https://www.musicatoxford.com/whats-on/eric-whitacre-eternity-in-an-hour/

(This is not an IF Oxford event)

Somerville College gratefully acknowledges the support of Helen Morton, who has generously supported Eric Whitacre’s position as Musician in Residence at Somerville College, 2026-2027.

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IF Oxford uses Pay What You Decide (PWYD) ticketing, which means you can choose to pay whatever you want — or can afford. You can make your donation during booking, at the event, or afterwards. Please note that there is a free ticket option for this event.

To make a PWYD booking, book 1 PWYD ticket for the group, then add extra FREE tickets for the rest of your party. This means there is only one donation for the whole group — you choose what to pay within the PWYD booking. This process is needed because Eventbrite treats a single PWYD ticket as the donation for the whole group — the PWYD ticket covers the donation (one ticket), and FREE tickets cover the rest of your party.

We suggest a donation of £7.50 per person. If even half of IF Oxford’s visitors gave that, the charity could plan next year’s community science and ideas Festival with confidence. If you decide another amount works better for you, please give that instead — every contribution helps keep the Festival free at the point of entry for everyone who needs it to be — the most important thing is that we can all enjoy a good Festival together, thank you.

All ticket options offer the same access. The contribution associated with this ticket is considered a donation in support of the Festival. Please choose the amount that feels right for you.

Please arrive at least ten minutes before the start. Unclaimed places are released at the start to people waiting at the door, and entry may be refused once the event has begun.

If you do not have a ticket, it is worth coming along — booked-up events often have space on the day.

Ages are a guide only, under-16s to be accompanied by a responsible adult.

The Festival reserves the right to modify event formats and manage the audience in accordance with the Festival’s Attendance Policy:

if-oxford.com/attendance-policy

IF Oxford is run by The Oxfordshire Science Festival (charity #1151361). Any voluntary donation you make may be eligible for Gift Aid, where a charity can claim back an extra 25% of your donation at no cost to you:

if-oxford.com/donate

……………………………………………

IF Oxford uses Pay What You Decide (PWYD) ticketing, which means you can choose to pay whatever you want — or can afford. You can make your donation during booking, at the event, or afterwards.

Please note that there is a free ticket option for this event.

All ticket options offer the same access. The contribution associated with this ticket is considered a donation in support of the Festival. Please choose the amount that feels right for you.

Please arrive at least ten minutes before the start. Unclaimed places are released at the start to people waiting at the door, and entry may be refused once the event has begun.

If you do not have a ticket, it is worth coming along — booked-up events often have space on the day.

Ages are a guide only, under-16s to be accompanied by a responsible adult.
The Festival reserves the right to modify event formats and manage the audience in accordance with the Festival’s Attendance Policy:
if-oxford.com/attendance-policy

IF Oxford is run by The Oxfordshire Science Festival (charity #1151361). Any voluntary donation you make may be eligible for Gift Aid, where a charity can claim back an extra 25% of your donation at no cost to you:
if-oxford.com/donate/