On Saturday, August 29, 2020, Washington Performing Arts will partner up with the United States Air Force Band to co-present an inside look on Grammy Award-winning composer Christopher Tin’s oratorio “To Shiver the Sky.”

The work, which was intended to world premiere in Washington, D.C. in May, was reinvented for an online format that includes music, interviews, and a live Q&A. “To Shiver the Sky” tells the tale of mankind’s dream of flight, as told through the words of 11 historic astronomers, inventors, visionaries, and pilots.

The United States Air Force Band will be joined by soprano Danielle de Niese to perform “Courage,” a filmed movement from the oratorio which sets music to the writings of Amelia Earhart. The program will also see contributions from Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Launch Director at John F. Kennedy Space Center, and Dr. Michelle Thaller, Astrophysicist and Astronomer at Goddard Space Flight Center.

“I’d like this music, and the album, to be a reminder of an era when humanity could pull together to achieve the incredible,” writes Tin. “We believed in our own greatness. We believed in our ability to solve the scourge of World Wars, to cure diseases, and to break the bonds of Earth. We were once great, and we can be great again. It’s awful that live music isn’t possible at the moment but, true to our nature, we find ways to overcome obstacles. And we hope that the internet can democratize the viewing experience for all to share.”

“To Shiver the Sky” has been released on August 21, 2020, via Decca Gold and can be streamed online.