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Space music composition “ZER0” by pianist and aerospace engineer Leonardo Barilaro is flying to the International Space Station on the Maleth 3 mission, following a successful NASA launch from Cape Canaveral on March 14, 2023 (March 15 at 1:20 a.m. Italian), aboard the SpaceX CRS27 rocket. The music is in the SD of the on-board computer, integrated on an ICE Cubes platform and once it arrives on board the International Space Station, it will remain in space for a total of 60 days. The music will be accessible from the mission control room in Malta and broadcast from space in a special scheduled event. This is the second time the music by the Space Pianist reaches orbit around the Earth.
The title of the creation, "ZER0", has a multilayered meaning. His figure representing 'nothing' in Arabic notation was called sifr, Cypher, meaning 'Nothing'. The word came to Europe along with the Arabic numeral system. Because early ciphers substituted numbers for letters to hide the meaning of words, ciphers became known as ciphers. If you understand the meaning of a cypher, you enter the code and understand the message.
Zero is also the absence of all quantities understood as a single quantity, it is the creation of Something from Nothing and this has revolutionized not only mathematics but also human society.
"ZER0" is the evolution of the previous composition of space music that was on board the International Space Station, or "Maleth", where the Astronaut was leaving the Earth, our Safe Harbor, to cross another dimension. In this new composition for piano and
synth, the journey leads the Astronaut to discover himself reflected in the Universe, while the Universe is reflected in him in a cascade of harmonies and cosmic wind of notes. This concept is mirrored in the artwork of ZER0, a unique creation by the multifaceted artist Anna Utopia Giordano. The artist has created a hybrid image that combines cutting-edge digital art and post-production with AI (artificial intelligence) and text-image generation tools employing machine learning algorithms. The genesis of the work has its roots in the conceptual and philosophical concept of zero, conceived in the Indian tradition as emptiness (sūnya) but also as Space and Heaven (kha, vyoman, gagana, ambara). It is an oxymoron, in which the pairs of poles intersect, establishing a relationship between the micro and the macrocosm.
The music was recorded at Piano's Maene in Brussels (Belgium), Steinway&Sons official dealer, which thanks to the manager Vincent Lignier, sponsored the musical project by making the concert hall available and preparing a wonderful Steinway model D for the occasion. The piece was mastered by sound engineer Paolo Bernardini of Medialica Studio (Italy).
Dr Leonardo Barilaro, who is also Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), joined forces with Professor Joseph Borg of the University of Malta, SpaceOmix leader and project PI Maleth 3, a space bioscience experiment to study the effects of microgravity on the microbiome studies of diabetic patients. Dr. Leonardo Barilaro, in addition to the artistic contribution to the mission, is the scientific contact point and the initiator of the MCAST side collaboration and also took part in the payload tests carried out at Space Application Services (Belgium), together with the Team of Prof Borg. The main purpose of the research mission is to locate and study human skin samples in space, planning future missions to deeper space such as the Moon and Mars.
“ZER0” will also be performed on March 23rd for the guests of a very exclusive event, “Bandiera Madre”, organized by the Italian Embassy in Valletta.
The space music composition and related video clip will be available on Spotify and on all major digital music platforms at the beginning of April.
Leonardo Barilaro was not only the first musician to premiere a new composition in streaming from Space to Earth, but during 2022 he was also the first artist in the world to release 365 singles a day, along with 365 video clips of the music tracks on Youtube. To seal the closure of his gigantic project "Space Piano Music Everyday", he released the last single of the cycle, "365 Days of Entropy".
Leonardo shares a dream with people, where the impossible becomes possible. And what used to be science fiction is now a reality. The idea of Art in Space is something that is being increasingly explored, for example by the University of Padua (“Moon gallery”) or by EuroSpaceHub (space innovation ecosystems), with enormous potential to bring people closer to the concepts of this new space age that humanity is experiencing. As a pianist and aerospace engineer, Leonardo is proudly part of the pioneers exploring these new frontiers of science and art. As a next target, the Space Pianist aims to play his music while orbiting our planet Earth.
Stay tuned for updates on the airing of ZER0 from Space in the coming days!
- Leonardo the Space Pianist Website: www.nullodiesinenota.com
- Maleth 3 OVERVIEW: https://mcast.edu.mt/maleth%203/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespacepianist
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Nullodiesinenota
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1l4Og7vLHYtJswcyl3P0Li?si=WwgfMbJxQOOgF4tf3fJXbg
- Anna Utopia Giordano: http://www.annautopiagiordano.it
- SpaceOMIX: https://www.spaceomix.com/
- SpaceX CRS-27 launch: https://www.youtube.com/live/HcTqj30dJYM?feature=share
- Piano's Maene: https://www.maene.be/
- Medialica studio: https://www.medialica.com/
