Melissa Coppola: “Lights in the Sky”

Students playing piano in front of big screen showing the Milky Way Galaxy

Melissa Coppola’s doctoral thesis “Lights in Sky”, a multimedia concert inspired by the cosmos, premiered Sunday, July 11, 2021, 2:30 PM at the Stamps Auditorium, Penny Stamps School of Art and Design on the U-M Ann Arbor Campus

“In March 2020, COVID-19 forced me to cancel a space-inspired performance at the Planetarium & Dome Theater at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. Thanks to the Duderstadt Video Studio and their phenomenal team, I was able to realize this program as a virtual concert, featuring musical selections by Urmas Sisask, György Ligeti, Claude Debussy, Missy Mazzoli, and George Crumb, along with stunning visuals from the dome, NASA, and European Southern Observatory. (Four-hand works feature guest pianist Justin Snyder.)”

Melissa Coppola


image of Melissa Coppola performing doctoral thesis composition “Lights in Sky”, a multimedia concert inspired by the cosmos

image by Jacques Mersereau

image of multiple studio  monitors during the recording of Melissa Coppola's doctoral thesis composition "Lights on the Sky" performed in the Duderstadt Center Video Studio

image by Jacques Mersereau