Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, WI · October 2 & 3, 2026
Via Experimental Sound Studio and The Visualist
Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra presented The Astral Pastorales, a new large-scale suite for two sold-out nights inside the historic refractor telescope dome at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.
Combining composition, improvisation, electronics and spoken word, the suite imagines the pastoral not as earthly nostalgia but as an astral terrain — a kind of cosmic ecology shaped by research Mazurek and the orchestra carried out at Yerkes. In the words of the presenters, the work was “composed in-residence at Yerkes Observatory specifically for presentation in their awe-inspiring refractor telescope dome.”
Exploding Star Orchestra
Rob Mazurek – compositions, trumpets, bells
Damon Locks – voice, samplers
Jason Adasiewicz – vibraphone
Kalia Vandever – trombone, electronics
Mikel Patrick Avery – drums, percussion
Steve Marquette – guitar
Tomeka Reid – cello
Victor Vieira-Branco – vibraphone
Co-produced by Experimental Sound Studio and Instigation Festival, with support from International Anthem.
