![Starmus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Starmus.jpg)
The Starmus International Festival is an international gathering focused on celebrating astronomy, space exploration, music, art, and other sciences such as biology and chemistry. It was founded by
Garik Israelian
Garik Israelian ( hy, Գարիկ Իսրայելյան, born 1963 or 1968) is an Armenian-Spanish astrophysicist and founder of the Starmus Festival. He and colleagues found the first observational evidence that supernova explosions are respons ...
, an astronomer at the Institute for Astrophysics in
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
, Canary Islands, Spain.
The Festival has featured
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...
,
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
,
Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...
,
Stephen Hawking,
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a po ...
,
Alexei Leonov
Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during th ...
,
Jim Lovell
James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...
,
Brian May
Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...
,
Jill Tarter
Jill Cornell Tarter (born January 16, 1944) is an American astronomer best known for her work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Tarter is the former director of the Center for SETI Research, holding the Bernard M. Oliver Cha ...
,
David Grinspoon
David H. Grinspoon (born 1959) is an American astrobiologist. He is Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and was the former inaugural Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology for 2012-2013.
His research f ...
,
Lisa Kaltenegger
Lisa Kaltenegger (4 March 1977 in Kuchl nearby Salzburg) is an Austrian astronomer with expertise in the modeling and characterization of exoplanets and the search for life. On July 1, 2014, she was appointed Associate Professor of Astronomy at ...
,
Kip Thorne
Kip Stephen Thorne (born June 1, 1940) is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. A longtime friend and colleague of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, he was the Richard P. Fey ...
, and
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s.
Born and raised ...
among others.
History
![Starmus V festival announced](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Starmus_V_festival_announced.jpg)
In 2007, Brian May, founding guitarist of the rock band
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
, completed his PhD dissertation which was left unfinished in 1974 when Queen began to achieve significant success. May's work focused on
interplanetary dust clouds in the solar system. He had studied at Tenerife earlier through
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
, and resumed work there more than 30 years later. In 2007, his new co-advisor was Garik Israelian, and the two struck up a friendship because Israelian was also a musician. This led to the founding of the Starmus Festival. The name pays homage to stars and music. The first Festival would occur four years later.
2011 Starmus Festival, "Starmus I"
The first Starmus Festival took place from 20 to 25 June 2011 on Tenerife and
La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
, Canary Islands. The primary site of the event was the Ritz-Carlton Abama Hotel in Tenerife. The theme was "50 Years of Man in Space." The Festival presented the rare opportunity for delegates, as the attendees were called, to share time, speak with, share refreshments, and converse with the speakers. About 300 people attended Starmus I.
During the festival, Neil Armstrong talked about Starmus and our future on Earth; Buzz Aldrin spoke about possible future missions to Mars; Alexei Leonov described the early days of the Soviet space program and his historic first spacewalk; Brian May asked about future human exploration in space and whether humans should first clean up their act here on Earth.
Further exploring themes of space exploration, Cosmonaut
Viktor Gorbatko
Viktor Vasilyevich Gorbatko (russian: Ви́ктор Васи́льевич Горбатко́; 3 December 1934 – 17 May 2017) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 7, Soyuz 24, and Soyuz 37 missions.
Early life
Viktor Vasilievich Gor ...
recalled early Soviet missions;
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...
astronaut
Bill Anders
William Alison Anders (born 17 October 1933) is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) major general, former electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, ...
related details of the early American space program;
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...
astronaut Jim Lovell described the harrowing mission he endured returning that crippled spacecraft to Earth; and
Apollo 16
Apollo 16 (April 1627, 1972) was the tenth crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate to land on the Moon. It was the second of Apollo's " J missions", with an extended sta ...
astronaut
Charles Duke
Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born October 3, 1935) is an American former astronaut, United States Air Force (USAF) officer and test pilot. As Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972, he became the tenth and youngest person to walk on the Moon, at ...
described his adventures in the Apollo program.
Covering themes of life in the universe, Nobel Prize-winning chemist
Jack W. Szostak
Jack William Szostak (born November 9, 1952) is a Canadian American biologist of Polish British descent, Nobel Prize laureate, university professor at the University of Chicago, former Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and Alexan ...
outlined the origin of life on Earth; Richard Dawkins described evolution and exobiology; astronomer
Michel Mayor
Michel Gustave Édouard Mayor (; born 12 January 1942) is a Swiss astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of Geneva's Department of Astronomy. He formally retired in 2007, but remains active as a researcher at the Observatory ...
recalled extrasolar planets including his own first discovery; and Jill Tarter explored extraterrestrial intelligence in the universe.
![Dr, Garik Israelian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Dr%2C_Garik_Israelian.jpg)
Astrophysics and cosmology received straight coverage in a variety of talks, as with descriptions of supernovae and gamma ray bursts by astrophysicist
Adam Burrows
Adam Burrows is a noted professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University.
Education
Burrows received his undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog ...
; the acoustic nature of the universe by Garik Israelian; black holes by astrophysicist Kip Thorne; the creation of the universe by cosmologist
Joseph Silk
Joseph Ivor Silk FRS (born 3 December 1942) is a British-American astrophysicist. He was the Savilian Chair of Astronomy at the University of Oxford from 1999 to September 2011.
He is an Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford and a Fellow ...
; cosmic signals from the beginning by cosmologist
George Smoot
George Fitzgerald Smoot III (born February 20, 1945) is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, Nobel laureate, and the 2nd contestant to win the $1 million prize on '' Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?''. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics i ...
; and five cosmic breakthroughs of the past 50 years by astronomer
Robert Williams.
Talks involving technology were also given, as with technologist Rich Goldman's description of the relationship between space exploration and technology; physicist
Sami Solanki
Sami Khan Solanki (born 1958 in Karachi, Pakistan) is director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), director of the Sun-Heliosphere Department of MPS, a scientific member of the Max Planck Society, and a Chair (and spo ...
’s exploration of whether the Sun is causing global warming; and astronomer Leslie Sage’s description of how astronomy has changed what it means to be human.
Finally, several talks focused on the new era of spacefarers, with cosmonaut
Sergei Zhukov Sergey Zhukov may refer to:
* Sergey Zhukov (cosmonaut), Sergey Aleksandrovich Zhukov (b. 1956), retired Russian cosmonaut
* Sergey Zhukov (footballer), Sergey Nikolaevich Zhukov (b. 1967), Soviet and Russian footballer with FC Torpedo Moscow, 1. F ...
’s presentation on the future of Russian space exploration; Swiss astronaut
Claude Nicollier
Claude Nicollier (born 2 September 1944 in Vevey, Switzerland) is the first astronaut from Switzerland. He has flown on four Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight ( STS-46) was in 1992, and his final spaceflight (STS-103) was in 1999. He ...
’s recollections of orbiting on the space shuttle; and cosmonaut
Yuri Baturin
Yuri Mikhailovich Baturin (russian: Юрий Михайлович Батурин; born 12 June 1949, in Moscow), is a Russian cosmonaut and former politician.
Baturin graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1973, and is t ...
’s plea for space explorers to help to change Earth and its inhabitants for the better.
The event also highlighted a "108 Minute Round Table Discussion" with several of the speakers, seated underneath the 10.4-meter
Gran Telescopio Canarias
The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GranTeCan or GTC) is a reflecting telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries, Spain. It is the world's largest single-aperture optical telescope.
Constr ...
, in homage to the length of the first space mission, flown by
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...
.
Starmus I also featured a spectacular concert event featuring
Edgar Froese
Edgar Willmar Froese (; 6 June 1944 – 20 January 2015) was a German musical artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group Tangerine Dream in 1967. Froese was the only continuous member of the group ...
and
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...
, along with Brian May who joined the concert for several songs. The show was recorded.
An astrophotography competition was opened for astronomy enthusiasts, and Alex Cherney won the prize, on the Gran Telescopio Canarias to make an image with the world's largest optical telescope.
In 2014, Canopus Publishing Ltd. produced a book consisting of the transcripts of the Starmus talks, numerous illustrations, and other materials. Titled ''Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space'', the volume featured a foreword by Stephen Hawking. Editors in Chief Garik Israelian and Brian May were assisted in the book's production by Executive Editor
David J. Eicher
David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...
and by Editorial Director Robin Rees. The volume was dedicated to Alexei Leonov and to Neil Armstrong, who died a year after the Festival took place but before the book was released.
2014 Starmus Festival, "Starmus II"
The second Starmus Festival occurred from 22 to 27 September 2014, again on Tenerife and La Palma, Canary Islands. This time the theme was "Beginnings: The Making of the Modern Cosmos." Again, the primary site of the event was the Ritz-Carlton Abama Hotel in Tenerife.
This time aided by greater publicity, the number of Starmus delegates swelled to nearly 1,000. Talks at Starmus II included Nobel Prize winning astronomer Robert Wilson describing his joint discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation; ''
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
'' magazine Editor in Chief David J. Eicher asking whether the revolution in factual knowledge about the universe is being swamped by sci-fi and entertainment nonsense; Alexei Leonov speaking to the crowd about his space exploration experiences; and Richard Dawkins outlining what potential alien life forms might be like.
Talks also included an address by Brian May on stereo imaging of astronomical objects, with 3D glasses; and Stephen Hawking lecturing on the origin of the universe. Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist John Mather then foreshadowed science to come with the
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Spa ...
. The audience then screened a film, ''
51 Degrees North'', with words by the film's director,
Grigorij Richters
Grigorij S. Richters (born 21 May 1987) is a director, activist, producer and official Forbes Council member. He directed the feature film '' 51 Degrees North'' and co-founded the global awareness movement Asteroid Day with astrophysicist and Qu ...
, who received musical contributions by May in the film. Hawking later delivered a second lecture on black holes.
More presentations followed, with Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke describing his scientific procedures on the lunar surface during the mission; Nobel Prize winning chemist Harry Kroto then described his career and development of carbon nanochemistry; and
Apollo 7
Apollo 7 (October 1122, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the fire that killed the three Apollo 1 astronauts during a launch rehearsal test on Ja ...
astronaut
Walter Cunningham
Ronnie Walter Cunningham (born March 16, 1932) is a retired American astronaut. In 1968, he was a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission. He was NASA's third civilian astronaut (after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See), and has also been a figh ...
wondered about the future of exploration and the lack of a risk-taking, adventurous culture in the current world.
As with Starmus I, Starmus II also highlighted a "108 Minute Round Table Discussion" with several of the speakers, seated underneath the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias, in homage to the length of the first space mission, flown by Yuri Gagarin.
The second Starmus also featured a Sonic Universe Concert, this time featuring Rick Wakeman, celebrated for his years in the rock band Yes, and his current band. They were joined for several songs by Brian May, and again the whole performance was recorded.
A final celebration occurred as a tribute to Alexei Leonov, and featured Leonov writing and explaining some of his work on a large auditorium chalkboard. Moreover, the event also featured musical contributions by Cypriot soprano Katerina Mina and Greek composer and musician Alexandros Hahalis.
The Government of Tenerife has announced that the equivalent publicity value from Starmus Festival II (2014) exceeds 170 Mln. Euros and that the festival has reached to 2.4 Bln. people worldwide.
2016 Starmus Festival, "Starmus III"
The third STARMUS festival took place in 2016 in the Canary Islands, on Tenerife and La Palma from 27 June to 2 July. The theme of the third festival was: Beyond The Horizon: A Tribute To Stephen Hawking.
As was the case with the previous two festivals, the third STARMUS festival grew in attendance with over 1200 delegates attending. The festival was not lacking presenters either; STARMUS III featured the most high-profile scientists and science communicators in the world, including: Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson,
Roger Penrose
Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
,
Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins,
Brian Greene
Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is a American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. Greene was a physics professor at Cornell University from 19901995, and has been a professor at Columbia University since 1 ...
, Kip Thorne, Garik Israelian,
Martin Rees
Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 23 June 1942) is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He is the fifteenth Astronomer Royal, ...
,
Chris Hadfield
Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also serv ...
, Alexei Leonov,
Rusty Schweickart
Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart (also Schweikart; born October 25, 1935) is an American aeronautical engineer, and a former NASA astronaut, research scientist, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, as well as a former business executive and governm ...
, Jill Tarter,
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porco (born March 6, 1953) is an American planetary scientist who explores the outer Solar System, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She led the imaging scienc ...
, and Joel Parker. The festival also featured Eleven Nobel Prize laureates:
David Gross
David Jonathan Gross (; born February 19, 1941) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. Gr ...
,
Joseph Stiglitz
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, and a full professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the Joh ...
,
Adam Riess
Adam Guy Riess (born December 16, 1969) is an American astrophysicist and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute. He is known for his research in using supernovae as cosmologica ...
,
Brian Schmidt
Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967) is the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). He was previously a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the University's Mo ...
,
Robert Wilson,
François Englert
François, Baron Englert (; born 6 November 1932) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and 2013 Nobel prize laureate.
Englert is professor emeritus at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he is a member of the Service de Physique Thé ...
,
Eric Betzig
Robert Eric Betzig (born January 13, 1960) is an American physicist who works as a professor of physics and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a senior fellow at the Janelia Farm Research ...
,
Carol W. Greider
Carolyn Widney Greider (born April 15, 1961) is an American molecular biologist and Nobel laureate. She joined the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Distinguished Professor in the department of molecular, cell, and developmental biology ...
,
Elizabeth Blackburn
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, (born 26 November 1948) is an Australian-American Nobel laureate who is the former president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Previously she was a biological researcher at the University of California, S ...
,
Edvard Moser
Edvard Ingjald Moser (; born 27 April 1962) is a Norwegian professor of psychology and neuroscience at thKavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. In 2005, he and May-Brit ...
and
May-Britt Moser
May-Britt Moser (born 4 January 1963) is a Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist, who is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She and her then-husband, Edvard Moser, share ...
.
![Starmus Festival 2016 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Starmus_Festival_2016_001.jpg)
In addition to the scientists in attendance the festival also featured a vast array of musical talent including: keynote speaker
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
,
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
, Brian May,
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer.
Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...
,
Anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
, the Symphonic Orchestra of Tenerife, and
MC Hawking
Ken Lawrence is a nerdcore rapper who purports to be the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking rapping under the name MC Hawking.
MC Hawking rose to popularity on the Internet in the early 2000s. The songs were originally released in MP3 fo ...
.
Other notable attendees included David Zambuka, writers
Robert J. Sawyer
Robert James Sawyer (born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 24 novels published and his short fiction has appeared in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'', ''Amazing Stories'', '' On Spec'', ''Nature'', and numerou ...
and
Anthony McCarten
Anthony McCarten (born 28 April 1961) is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget biopics '' The Theory of Everything'' (2014), '' Darkest Hour'' (2017), ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018), ''The Two Popes'' (2019 ...
, and visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin.
STARMUS III was also the location of the inaugural awards ceremony for recipients of the
Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication
The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication is an honor bestowed by the Starmus Festival to individuals in science and the arts to recognize the work of those helping to promote the public awareness of science.
History
The Stephen Hawki ...
. The award recipients (chosen by Hawking himself) were composer Hans Zimmer, physicist
Jim Al-Khalili
Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili ( ar, جميل صادق الخليلي; born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in scien ...
and the science documentary ''
Particle Fever
''Particle Fever'' is a 2013 American documentary film tracking the first round of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland. The film follows the experimental physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Rese ...
''.
The festival closed with the Sonic Universe Concert featuring Sarah Brightman singing with the Symphonic Orchestra of Tenerife as conducted by Hans Zimmer. The concert also featured performances by Chris Hadfield, Rick Wakeman, Brian May, and Anathema.
2017 Starmus Festival, "Starmus IV"
![Starmus2017 NobelPrizeWinners KD (34566421944)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Starmus2017_NobelPrizeWinners_KD_%2834566421944%29.jpg)
The fourth STARMUS festival took place in 2017 in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
, Norway, from 18 to 23 June. The theme of the fourth festival was: ''Life and the Universe'', and the festival featured eleven Nobel Prize laureates and many astronomers, biologists, chemists, economists, astronauts and artists.
Among the Starmus IV delegates were space explorers Charles Duke who spoke on the legacy of Apollo 16,
Sandra Magnus
Sandra Hall Magnus (born October 30, 1964) is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She returned to Earth with the crew of STS-119 ''Discovery'' on March 28, 2009, after having spent 134 days in orbit. She was assigned to the crew of ...
who gave an account of her experience during her missions,
Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Hagan Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, retired NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico, and the most recent living person—and only person without a background in military aviation ...
, from Apollo 17, the last mission to the Moon, who offered insights into future space missions, and
Terry Virts
Terry W. Virts (born December 1, 1967) is a retired NASA astronaut, International Space Station Commander and colonel in the United States Air Force.
Background and education
Virts was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but considers Columbia, Mar ...
who discussed the perspectives on Earth and our place in the Universe.
Many outstanding scientists and Nobel Prize laureates attended Starmus IV and gave presentations on a variety of topics. Michel Mayor discussed exoplanets and exoEarths,
Sara Seager
Sara Seager (born 21 July 1971) is a Canadian-American astronomer and planetary scientist. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is known for her work on extrasolar planets and their atmospheres. She is the auth ...
raised the issue of biosignatures on exoplanets,
Lynn Rothschild continued the topic by exploring the most extreme environments where alien life could be found. George Smoot made a presentation on cosmic connection, Adam Riess discussed evidence on the acceleration of the Universe from observing supernovae, physicist and mathematician Brian Greene talked about String Theory and the fabric of spacetime, Martin Rees’ talk dwelt upon the future of the Earth,
Priyamvada Natarajan
Priyamvada (Priya) Natarajan is a professor in the departments of astronomy and physics at Yale University. She is noted for her work in mapping dark matter and dark energy, particularly with her work in gravitational lensing, and in models d ...
gave a presentation on the dark side of the Universe, and Jill Tarter spoke about technology and its resemblance to magic – or nature.
Physicist and director of Max Planck Institute
Stefan Hell
Stefan Walter Hell HonFRMS (: born 23 December 1962) is a Romanian-German physicist and one of the directors of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 "for the d ...
’s talk was dedicated to the revolutionary changes in optical microscopy, Stephen Hawking offered an exploration of the future of the humanity (he gave his talk via VoIP connection, as he had not been able to attend the festival due to health issues) and
Lisa Randall
Lisa Randall (born June 18, 1962) is an American theoretical physicist working in particle physics and cosmology. She is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science on the physics faculty of Harvard University. Her research includes the funda ...
spoke about dark matter and the dinosaurs, while physicist and programmer
Jaan Tallinn
Jaan Tallinn (born 14 February 1972) is an Estonian billionaire computer programmer and investor known for his participation in the development of Skype and file-sharing application FastTrack/ Kazaa. Jaan Tallinn is a leading figure in the field ...
highlighted issues of steering artificial intelligence.
Apart from outstanding physicists and astronomers, Starmus IV hosted biologists
Nancy Knowlton
Nancy Knowlton is a coral reef biologist and a former Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Life
She graduated from Harvard University, and from the University of California, Berkeley, with a PhD. ...
, with a talk on the life on Planet Ocean, and Paul Hebert, with a discussion of a mission on planetary diversity, climate change scientist
Katharine Hayhoe
Katharine Anne Scott Hayhoe (born 1972) is a Canadian atmospheric scientist. She is a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor and an Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Public Law in the Texas Tech University Department of Political Science. I ...
who explored the facts and myths of climate change, microbiologist and biochemist
Emmanuelle Charpentier
Emmanuelle Marie Charpentier (; born 11 December 1968) is a French professor and researcher in microbiology, genetics, and biochemistry. As of 2015, she has been a director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. In 2018, sh ...
who talked about CRISPR-Cas9, a gene editing technology that revolutionises life sciences, biochemist and writer
Nick Lane
Nick Lane (born 1967) is a British biochemist and writer. He is a professor in evolutionary biochemistry at University College London. He has published five books to date which have won several awards.
Career
Educated at Imperial College, Lon ...
who offered insights into understanding the planetary life support systems, psychologist and neuroscientist Edvard Moser who gave a talk on the brain’s positioning system, physiologist
Susumu Tonegawa
is a Japanese scientist who was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of V(D)J recombination, the Genetics, genetic mechanism which produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize ...
who unveiled the mechanisms of the human memory, economists
Chris Pissarides, with a presentation on work in the age of robots,
Finn Kydland
Finn Erling Kydland (born 1 December 1943) is a Norwegian economist known for his contributions to business cycle theory. He is the Henley Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds the Richard P. Simmons ...
, with a talk on innovation, capital formation and economic policy, and
Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs () (born 5 November 1954) is an American economist, academic, public policy analyst, and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor. He is known for his work ...
, who gave a talk called ''How we can survive Trump, Climate Change and other Global Crises?''
A number of concerts and performances were given at Starmus IV by outstanding musicians and artists.
Steve Vai
Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...
shared his creative manifestation, and David Zambuka made an impressive show entitled "Get a Life (form)!" May-Britt Moser and
Trondheim Soloists
Trondheim Soloists ( no, Trondheimsolistene) are a musical chamber ensemble of string players based in Trondheim, Norway. The ensemble was founded in 1988 and has been an arena for professional concert training for string-players at the Music Con ...
offered an art-science project called ''Into Whiteness. ''The Trondheim Symphonic Orchestra gave a number of concerts with
Ane Brun
Ane Brun (; born Ane Brunvoll on 10 March 1976) is a Norwegian songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist of Sami people, Sami origin. Since 2003, she has recorded ten albums, eight of which are studio albums of original material (including a collecti ...
, Steve Vai and Brian Greene, while Steve Vai gave another concert with
Nuno Bettancourt,
Grace Potter
Grace Evelyn Potter (born June 20, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who formed Grace Potter and the Nocturnals in 2002. Potter released her debut solo record ''Original Soul'' on 2004 via Grace Potter Music. Potter and her b ...
and
Devin Townsend
Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...
as special guests. The musical part also involved
The Pineapple Thief
The Pineapple Thief are a British progressive rock band, started by Bruce Soord in 1999 in Somerset, England.
History Early years
Founder Bruce Soord started The Pineapple Thief as an outlet for his music back in 1999. Soord released the ...
, Trondheim Symphonic Orchestra and Jennie Abrahamson.
Robin Ince
Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career.
Education
After ...
and Brian Cox hosted a panel with Charles Duke, Sandra Magnus, Terry Virts and Claude Nicollier.
Starmus IV featured a wide range of round tables and discussions on different topics, among them the traditional 108-minute panel, this time called ''108 minutes: The World on Fire, ''with Neil deGrasse Tyson,
Eugene Kaspersky
Yevgeny Valentinovich Kaspersky (Russian: Евгений Валентинович Касперский; born 4 October 1965) is a Russian cybersecurity expert and the CEO of Kaspersky Lab, an IT security company with 4,000 employees. He co-found ...
, Finn Kydland,
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
, Chris Pissarides as speakers and
Larry King
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...
as moderator. Larry King also moderated the round table ''Space Journalism 360: New Era'' and gave a presentation on the era of post-truth and fake news.
Another panel discussion dealt with the issues of outreach and education and was moderated by David Eicher, with
Torsten Wiesel
Torsten Nils Wiesel (born 3 June 1924) is a Swedish neurophysiologist. With David H. Hubel, he received the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system; the prize was s ...
, Alexandra Witze,
Susan Bailey
Dame Susan Mary Bailey, (born 29 August 1950) is a British psychiatrist and academic who specialises in children's mental health. Since 2004, she has been Professor of Child Mental Health at the University of Central Lancashire. From 2011 ...
, Claude Nicollier, Markus Reymann, Sandra Magnus, May-Britt Moser and Ane Brun as speakers.
Nobel Prize Laureate panel discussion with the 11 Nobel Prize winners attending Starmus IV featured May-Britt Moser, Robert Wilson, Edvard Moser, George Smoot, Adam Riess, Finn Kydland, Susumu Tonegawa, Chris Pissarides, Torsten Wiesel,
Tim Hunt
Sir Richard Timothy Hunt, (born 19 February 1943) is a British biochemist and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H. Hartwell for their discoveries of protein molecu ...
and Stefan Hell.
In a discussion called ''Moonwalkers in conversation'', moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Buzz Aldrin, Harrison Schmitt and Charles Duke shared their experience on the surface of the Earth's satellite.
The film ''
The Spacewalker ''about Alexei Leonov was shown for the first time. Film director Oliver Stone explained how to decode truth in films.
The Star Party featured DJ Artone, DJ Favorite, DJ BK Duke.
During Starmus IV, the Stephen Hawking Medal award ceremony took place. Stephen Hawking selects the winners for their outstanding contribution in science communication and they are awarded a medal designed by Alexei Leonov. Starmus IV winners were: Neil deGrasse Tyson (science writing),
Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...
(music and arts) and
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...
(films).
2019 Starmus Festival, "Starmus V"
![Starmus V bag (50137972042)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Starmus_V_bag_%2850137972042%29.jpg)
The fifth Festival took place in 2019 in Zurich, Switzerland under the general theme "A Giant Leap", dedicated to the first step of the man on the Moon. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
landing on the Moon and the 60th anniversary of the
first man-made object hitting the Moon's surface, the Festival commemorated those events through lectures, presentations, debates, panel discussions and performances.
The festival opened with Hans Zimmer's homage to the
Apollo Missions
The Apollo program was a United States human spaceflight program carried out from 1961 to 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which landed the first astronauts on the Moon. The program used the Saturn IB and Saturn ...
, ''Once Upon a Time on the Moon''. The musical component of the festival also featured Brian May, Rick Wakeman, Steve Vai and other stars. Nobel laureate physicist Kip Thorne together with
Paul Franklin and Oliver James (DNEG) presented a visual sequence based on state-of-the-art astrophysics research.
The Stephen Hawking Medal was awarded to
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...
, Buzz Aldrin, Brian Eno and the documentary
''Apollo 11'', screened during the festival for the first time in Europe.
Dedicated to the humanity's first step on the Moon and Apollo missions, Starmus V featured Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin,
Al Worden
Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of only 24 people to have flown to the ...
, Charles Duke, Harrison Schmitt, Rusty Schweickart, Walter Cunningham joined by ESA and NASA astronauts
Helen Sharman
Helen Patricia Sharman, CMG, OBE, HonFRSC (born 30 May 1963) is a British chemist and cosmonaut who became the first British person, first Western European woman and first privately funded woman in space, as well as the first woman to visit ...
, Sandra Magnus,
Nicole Stott
Nicole Marie Passonno Stott (born November 19, 1962) is an American engineer and a retired NASA astronaut. She served as a Flight Engineer on ISS Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 and was a Mission Specialist on STS-128 and STS-133. After 27 year ...
, Claude Nicollier,
Tim Peake
Major Timothy Nigel Peake (born 7 April 1972) is a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and a former International Space Station (ISS) crew member.
He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear ...
,
Garrett Reisman
Garrett Erin Reisman (; born February 10, 1968) is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a me ...
, and Russian astronauts
Gennadiy Padalka and Yuri Baturin.
Nobel Prize Laureates
Donna Strickland
Donna Theo Strickland (born 27 May 1959) is a Canadian optical physicist and pioneer in the field of pulsed lasers. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Gérard Mourou, for the practical implementation of chirped p ...
, Edvard Moser,
Samuel Ting, Elizabeth Blackburn, May-Britt Moser, Adam Riess, Robert Wilson, George Smoot, Brian Schmidt,
Barry Barish
Barry Clark Barish (born January 27, 1936) is an American experimental physicist and Nobel Laureate. He is a Linde Professor of Physics, emeritus at California Institute of Technology and a leading expert on gravitational waves.
In 2017, Baris ...
and Eric Betzig joined the traditional discussion panel to debate on pressing issues of space exploration and the prospects of humanity in space. Another traditional panel titled 108 Minutes featured Harrison Schmitt, Charles Duke, Brian Eno, Bill Nye, May-Britt Moser, Donna Strickland, Garik Israelian,
Michael Hintze
Michael Hintze, Baron Hintze, (born 27 July 1953) is an Australian-British businessman and philanthropist, based in the United Kingdom.
According to the ''Sunday Times'' 2019 Rich List, Hintze's net worth is 1.5 billion, an increase of 1 ...
, Al Worden and
Gerry Griffin
Gerald D. Griffin (born December 25, 1934) is an American aeronautical engineer and former NASA official, who served as a flight director during the Apollo program and director of Johnson Space Center, succeeding Chris Kraft in 1982.
When Gr ...
.
A constellation of scientists, artists and astronauts shared their discoveries during six full days, through lectures, panel discussions, concerts, and a new genre in science communication, the concert-lecture, by May-Britt Moser.
2022 Starmus Festival, "Starmus VI"
![Hamasyan Trio and friends during Welcome concert of Starmus IV festival](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Hamasyan_Trio_and_friends_during_Welcome_concert_of_Starmus_IV_festival.jpg)
The Starmus festival (Starmus VI) was planned to be held between 6 and 11 September 2021 in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
. However, the event was postponed until September 2022, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and related travel restrictions.
Starmus VI took place between 5 and 10 September 2022 in Yerevan. The main focus of the sixth Starmus Festival titled "''50 years on Mars''" is the
exploration of Mars
The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habit ...
: from the very first Soviet MARS 3 to the ambitious manned landing plans and spectacular
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
missions. It has been 50 years since MARS 3 performed the first soft landing on the Red Planet and sent back to the Earth the first image of its surface. This milestone was followed by dozens of successful missions by NASA providing us with more accurate images and information from our neighbour in the Solar System.
The 2022 Starmus festival also featured
James Bagian, the first Armenian astronaut.
The Festival was addressed pressing issues and showed screen films about the exploration of Mars and Space. This time, the documentary film "Space Inside" about the outstanding Soviet and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was shown. It was introduced by the cosmonaut's daughter, Oksana Leonova. It is based on the last interview of an outstanding pioneer, in which he talks about his amazing fate and that a person has the right to challenge the cosmos outside and inside himself. The 80-minute film uses footage from the Soviet history of space exploration, documentary chronicles. Extraordinary situations that a person may encounter are described, as Leonov encountered during his first spacewalk. The film also touches on the theme of the astronaut's artistic talent: he was called the best artist among astronauts and the best astronaut among artists.
More than 50 scientists and cosmonauts came here: Chris Hadfield, social media-sensation; Charles Duke (Apollo 16), the youngest man to walk on the moon; James Bagian, a former astronaut of Armenian descent;
Charles Bolden Jr., the former head of NASA;
Tony Fadell
Anthony Michael Fadell (born March 22, 1969) is an American engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor. He was senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple Inc. and founder and former CEO of Nest Labs.
Fadell joined Apple Inc. in 20 ...
, iPod creator; Brian Greene, physicist and science communicator. In addition, Starmus has featured a wide selection of
Nobel Laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
scientists such as Kip Thorne, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Donna Strickland.
Among the artists who performed at the festival in Yerevan were rock legends Brian May (he is the member of the Starmus Festival Board of Directors
), Rick Wakeman,
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...
,
Derek Sherinian
Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...
with
Sons of Apollo
Sons of Apollo is an American progressive metal supergroup formed in 2017 and composed of drummer Mike Portnoy, bassist Billy Sheehan, keyboardist Derek Sherinian, vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, and guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.
History
Sherinia ...
, opera singer Montserrat Martí,
Andrey Makarevich
Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich PAR (russian: link=no, Андре́й Вади́мович Макаре́вич; born 11 December 1953 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian rock musician and the founder of Russia's oldest ...
, Tigran Hamasyan, Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Jivan Gasparyan - junior, Children and Youth Choir of the Tavush diocese.
Brian May, Jane Goodall, Diane Ackerman and the NASA Communications Unit announced as Winners of the Stephen Hawking Medal at Starmus VI Armenia at the official opening of the festival at the
Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic la ...
on September 5.
The festival included several forms and directions. Among them were large-scale concerts and presentations: "Sonic Universe concert" with the participation of the Prime Minister of Armenia
Nikol Pashinyan
Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018.
A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1 ...
, prominent scientists and artists, as well as the "Another World" concert, where world music stars gathered, performing several hits by "Queen" together. Brian May played an electric guitar solo. So, on September 7, "Queen" guitarist Brian May teamed up with "
System Of A Down
System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...
" frontman Serj Tankian, "Sons Of Apollo" vocalist
Jeff Scott Soto
Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and (briefly) the lead vocalist for Journey in 2006–2007. Soto also sa ...
,
Graham Gouldman
Graham Keith Gouldman (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation in 1972. Before 10cc ...
and opera singer
Montserrat Martí
Montserrat Martí (born 15 November 1971), also known as Montsita, is a Spanish soprano.
Early life
Martí was born as Montserrat Martí Caballé in Barcelona on 15 November 1972 to Montserrat Caballé and Bernabé Martí. She made her first app ...
to perform the "Queen" classic "
The Show Must Go On
"The show must go on" is a phrase in show business, meaning that regardless of what happens, whatever show has been planned still has to be staged for the waiting patrons. There is no evidence to suggest that it is the abbreviation of a longer phra ...
" with the Armenian National Orchestra.
A school of astrophotography, a conference "Discover space and change the world" were organized, in which leading researchers and scientists from various fields delivered mass lectures from the stage of the sports and concert complex named after K. Demirchyan.
The role of scientists in preserving peace, scientific ethics, including in the post-COVID period, the responsibility of scientists to humanity were discussed at the round table in the Zvartnots temple "108 minutes of Gagarin" (according to the duration of the flight of the first cosmonaut) and at the panel discussion "Andrey Sakharov - 100" (the centenary of the Soviet scientist was celebrated in 2021).
At the campsite near the
Yerevan Opera Theatre
Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet ( hy, Ալեքսանդր Սպենդիարյանի անվան օպերայի և բալետի ազգային ակադեմիական թատրոն, ''Aleksandr Spendiaryani anvan operayi yev bale ...
, the Starmus scientific camp was set up - a tent city for schoolchildren and students. Here they were read entertaining lectures, showed experiments on astrophysics, laser technologies, unmanned vehicles and robotics, talked about agronomy, how to deal with epidemics. It also hosted concerts by artists from all over the world.
The Festival featured several pieces of music dedicated to the exploration of Mars and space in general. So, Rick Wakeman performed insrumental version "
Life on Mars?
"Life on Mars?" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, first released on his 1971 album ''Hunky Dory''. In 1968, Bowie was commissioned to write English lyrics for the Claude François French song " Comme d'habitude". After his l ...
" at the Sonic Universe Concert on September 5. It's a song by English singer-songwriter
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, first released on his 1971 album "Hunky Dory". Piano was played by
Strawbs
Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock.
They are best known fo ...
member Rick Wakeman.
At the closing of the expanded program of the Starmus festival on September 11, at the site of the scientific camp near the Yerevan Opera Theatre, the neo-symphony "March of Mars" by the participant of the international social and cultural public initiative "Human Time" composer of Armenian origin Tigran Jager was performed. It became the
only new composition dedicated directly to the theme of the exploration of Mars and prepared for the festival in Yerevan.
"''In my march-neosymphony, I reflected the idea that Mars has become a measure of the development of human civilization – not only technological, but also ethical. This planet, which for centuries has symbolized the god of war, should finally become the point of transition to nuclear-free energy and conflict-free information, reason and wisdom'',” Tigran Jager described the idea of his work.
Other dedications to the theme of space exploration were instrumental tracks by Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Brian Eno, released in the fall of 2021. They paid a tribute to
Alexander Kemurdzhian
Aleksandr Leonovich Kemurdzhian (russian: Александр Леонович Кемурджиан; 4 October 192125 February 2003) was a Soviet mechanical engineer who worked at the VNIITransmash institute for the most of the second half of th ...
, soviet-armenian engineer who designed first planetary rovers Lunokhod and Mars Rover Prop-M.
Starmus co-founder Garik Israelian said: "''Armenia has played an extraordinary role in the past, present and future of how we understand and explore our universe, and I'm looking forward to welcome this extraordinary range of thinkers and creatives to encounter this special place and share ideas''."
The festival was hold under the high patronage of the President of Armenia (9 April 2018 – 1 February 2022), Dr.
Armen Sarkissian
Armen Vardani Sarkissian ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան; also written as Sarksyan and Sargsyan) (born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist and computer scientist who served as the 4th president of Armenia from 9 A ...
. He has invited Starmus to Armenia during his invited speech in 2019 at the opening ceremony of Starmus in Zurich. The
Government of Armenia
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, Executive (government), e ...
has supported and worked in partnership with organizers to make the festival an outstanding event. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of High-Tech Industry played an important role in different educational, scientific and artistic activities of the festival.
The Festival Starmus in Yerevan was supported by UNESCO.
Sonic Universe Concerts
Open to the general public at large as well as the Starmus Festival delegates, the two Sonic Universe Concerts were held at the Magma Arte & Congresos, an arena in Tenerife. The first concert in 2011 featured Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, along with Brian May. Their performance was recorded and produced into a CD entitled "Starmus - Sonic Universe" in 2011 and is the only album to highlight both Tangerine Dream and Brian May.
The second concert in 2014 featured Rick Wakeman and his band, accompanied by May. Progressive rock band
Nosound
Nosound is an Italian alternative rock band started in 2002 by Giancarlo Erra. The group plays music in several different genres, including alternative rock, post rock, electronic, and ambient. All their early recordings were composed, perfor ...
also performed in 2014 at Starmus II, with this show recorded and produced into a CD/DVD set entitled ''Teide 2390''.
The Starmus II performance was special as it is the band's first full, live, recorded album.
Star Party
Each of the first two Starmus Festivals featured a star party with many participants traveling to the summit of Mt. Teide on Tenerife for dark sky observing. In addition to observing a variety of deep-sky objects with an array of telescopes, participants were entertained by the Italian progressive rock band Nosound.
Astrophotography School
The 2014 Starmus featured a small astrophotography school for enthusiasts who wanted to learn about imaging the sky and also have access to one of the darkest skies on Earth with their own equipment. For three days following the main Festival, on 28–30 September 2014, participants stayed at the observatories on Mt. Teide on Tenerife, and seminars took place featuring noted astroimagers Damian Peach and Rogelio Bernal Andreo, along with Astronomy Magazine Editor in Chief David J. Eicher.
Books and DVDs
In 2014 Starmus published its first book: ''Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space''. An ambitious series of talks, articles and recollections assembled to celebrate the human exploration of space. It is the result of the unique Starmus meeting in 2011 on Tenerife, where the legendary Russian and American pioneers of the space age met up for the first time to share the moments that electrified the human race. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Bill Anders, Yuri Baturin, Charles Duke, Victor Gorbatko, Alexei Leonov, Jim Lovell, Claude Nicollier, and Sergei Zhukov tell their personal stories about the first space walk, the lunar landing, the heroic recovery of Apollo 13, the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, and much more.
In 2016 Starmus published its second book: ''Origins of the Cosmos''. Edited by Garik Israelian and Brian May, the book synthesizes our current view of the universe. Written in a style that is understandable to anyone who is interested in these matters, it includes contributions from many prominent figures of the science world, including Alexei Leonov, Walt Cunningham, Richard Dawkins, David Eicher, John Ellis, Katerina Harvati, Stephen Hawking, Harry Kroto, Mark Boslough, John Mather, and Robert Wilson.
In 2014 Rick Wakeman released a DVD called ''Rick Wakeman and Brian May – Starmus 2014''. Rick Wakeman has made several appearances at Starmus. The DVD was recorded at the second Starmus festival in 2014 where he was joined on stage by Brian May, the guitarist from Queen.
Board of directors
The Starmus Festival Board of Directors consists of:
[About us](_blank)
Starmus Festival
![Stephen Hawking Medals (28190426642)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Stephen_Hawking_Medals_%2828190426642%29.jpg)
* Garik Israelian, Astrophysicist, Director & Founder
* Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary Biologist
* David J. Eicher, Editor, Astronomer, and Author
*
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
, Musician and Human rights activist
* Brian May, Queen founding Guitarist & Astrophysicist
* Emmanuelle Charpentier, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
* Jill Tarter, Astrophysicist
* Robert Williams, Astrophysicist
* Tony Fadell, Engineer, innovator, founder
Past directors include cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (2011-2019), theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (2014-2018), chemist
Harold Kroto
Sir Harold Walter Kroto (born Harold Walter Krotoschiner; 7 October 1939 – 30 April 2016), known as Harry Kroto, was an English chemist. He shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley for their discovery o ...
(2014-2017), and biologist Jack W. Szostak (2011).
References
External links
*
{{Coord missing, Spain
Tourist attractions in Tenerife
Astronomy events
Festivals in Spain
Science events in Spain